Evaluation of the concentrations of psychotropic drugs in HIV-infected versus HIV-negative patients : Potential implications for clinical practice

Objectives: The management of psychiatric illness in HIV-infected patients is clinically challenging because of the risk of potential drug–drug interactions. Here, we aimed to measure the antidepressant and/or antipsychotic drug concentrations in HIV-infected patients during routine outpatient visits. Methods: Six hundred HIV-infected patients were screened during the first 15 months after the introduction of our outpatient polytherapy management service in a search for subjects treated with psychotropic drugs for at least 3 months. The distribution of psychotropic drug concentrations in HIV-infected patients was compared with that observed in a control group of HIV-negative patients monitored over the same period. Results: The search identified 82 HIV-infected patients concomitantly receiving antiretroviral and psychotropic drug treatment, 55% of whom had plasma psychotropic drug concentrations that were below minimum effective levels. The same result was found in only 26% of the samples taken from HIV-negative patients. These results were not affected by patients’ gender, age, adherence to therapies or drug–drug interactions. Conclusions: A higher rate of sub-therapeutic antidepressant and/or antipsychotic drugs concentrations were found in HIV-infected patients. The creation of multidiscliplinary specialist teams may contribute to improving the management of such complex patients.