The addition of mycophenolate mofetil to antiretroviral therapy including abacavir is associated with depletion of intracellular deoxyguanosine triphosphate and a decrease in plasma HIV-1 RNA

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) enhances the in vitro activity of abacavir (ABC) and other nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) against sensitive and NRTI-resistant HIV-1. This may occur via depletion of intracellular deoxyguanosine triphosphate (dGTP). Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) 500 mg twice daily was added as a single agent to the antiretroviral regimens of five patients failing maximal available therapy. Therapy included ABC, and in most cases didanosine (DDI) and tenofovir (TDF). At entry, mean plasma HIV-1 RNA (VL) was 5.02 log(10) copies/mL (median 4.78, range 4.71-5.63) and mean CD4 count was 106/muL (median 117, range 11-174). MMF was well tolerated. CD4 cell counts did not change significantly from baseline for up to 60 weeks of follow-up. Three of five subjects had VL declines of >0.5 log(10) copies/mL immediately after adding MMF; a fourth subject had a sustained decline of >0.5 log(10) copies/mL after week 8. Declines of >0.5 log(10) copies/mL were lost in two patients at 6 and 8 weeks, and persisted in two patients at 36 and 60 weeks of follow-up, respectively. An increase in the ratio of carbovir triphosphate (CBV-TP), the active antiviral metabolite of ABC, to dGTP was documented in 3 of 4 subjects in temporal association with decreased VL. Trough plasma MPA levels ranged from 0.26-1.67 mug/mL; peak levels 90 minutes after dosing from 1.20-7.77 mug/mL. AUC of MPA appeared little changed when measured over 28 weeks of therapy. Declines in VL were observed in association with measurable changes in the CBV-TP/dGTP ratio in some patients, whereas MPA AUC was below the 30-60 mug*hr/mL range targeted in organ transplantation. The possibility that MMF may enhance the effect of selected NRTls and be tolerated in late stage HIV disease deserves careful randomized study.