Hydroxychloroquine, hydroxycarbamide, and didanosine as economic treatment for HIV-1

Most people who have HIV-1 and live in less-developed countries cannot afford standard combination antiretroviral therapy, and more economical approaches to treatment are therefore needed. We treated 22 patients who were infected with HIV-1 (viral load 100 000 copies/mL and CD4 count 150 cells/μL) with hydroxychloroquine (200 mg), hydroxycarbamide (hydroxyurea) (500 mg), and didanosine (125–200 mg), taken twice daily. Treatment was well tolerated, with few serious adverse events. Viral load showed a sustained decrease of 1•3 log, and CD4 count was maintained (percentage increase; 2•9%) over 48 weeks in the 16 evaluable patients. This new combination of drugs could be suitable for countries that have restricted resources, but should first be further investigated.