- Skinner-Adams, Tina S;
- Butterworth, Alice S;
- Porter, Kimberly A;
- D'Amico, Ronald;
- Sawe, Fred;
- Shaffer, Doug;
- Siika, Abraham;
- Hosseinipour, Mina C;
- Stringer, Elizabeth;
- Currier, Judith S;
- Chipato, Tsungai;
- Salata, Robert;
- Lockman, Shahin;
- Eron, Joseph J;
- Meshnick, Steven R;
- McCarthy, James S
- Editor(s): Tripathy, Srikanth Prasad
HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) show antimalarial activity in vitro and in animals. Whether this translates into a clinical benefit in HIV-infected patients residing in malaria-endemic regions is unknown. We studied the incidence of malaria, as defined by blood smear positivity or a positive Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 antigen test, among 444 HIV-infected women initiating antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the OCTANE trial (A5208; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00089505). Participants were randomized to treatment with PI-containing vs. PI-sparing ART, and were followed prospectively for ≥48 weeks; 73% also received cotrimoxazole prophylaxis. PI-containing treatment was not associated with protection against malaria in this study population.