To: BadMan who wrote (3919 ) 3/15/1998 12:55:00 AM From: Mr.Rich Nouveau Respond to
I'm new here ... trying out the free one month offer. I decided to jump in here because the issue "crix belly" and Viracept seems to require some clarification. Forgive me if this is a bit technical as I do have a background in biochemistry. Viracept, crixivan, and the other protease inhibitors are similar in that they all able to bind to HIV protease (and thereby inhibit its action). Although they share this property and therefore share some resemblance at the molecular level, they are by no means identical and therefore will interact with other proteins to varying extents. One can presume that Crix belly arises by the interaction of the protease inhibitor(s) with one or more human proteins (and perhaps the pharmacological effect of this interaction is accentuated by the presence of other drugs, such as the RT inhibitors, or perhaps it is the other way around). This human protein probably bears some resemblance to HIV protease; for example, it MAY be an aspartic protease, just like HIV protease. The degree to which this interaction takes place will vary among the protease inhibitors, simply because they are different molecules. The conclusion from all this follows: while all protease inhibitors may show "crix belly" as a side effect of chronic use, the frequencies are almost certainly going to be very different. Just like any other side effect! So, the question is (John W and David S) not whether there is one patient or even 20 (out of >60,000 patients) taking Viracept who has "crix belly", but what is the frequency, compared to the other protease inhibitors. Does anyone have any relevant info on this?
