Patients on a combined antiretroviral therapy after maraviroc clinical test show no immunovirological impairment

The maraviroc clinical test (MCT) is a clinical approach to establish the indication of maraviroc treatment. In this study, we analysed the long-term outcome of patients receiving a combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) selected according to MCT results. Ninety-two consecutive HIV-infected patients underwent MCT. A virological response (<40 HIV-RNA copies/ml after 24 weeks) was observed in 76/92 patients (82.6%). These patients (n = 76) were included in a time to treatment failure analysis; after a mean follow-up period of 88 weeks, treatment failure was confirmed in 14 patients (18.4%). Tropism switch during MCT was observed in 3/35 patients (8.6%); these patients experienced excellent long-term outcome on cART. In conclusion, MCT should be considered as an additional method before CCR5-antagonists prescription.

► Maraviroc clinical test (MCT) as a method to select candidate patients to be treated with CCR5-antagonists.
► Advantages of MCT compared with other tropism assays.
► Long-term outcome of patients starting cART after MCT shows immunovirological efficacy.
► Tropism analysis during MCT shows no clinically relevant tropism change after short-term maraviroc monotherapy.