Pharmacokinetics and 48-week safety and efficacy of generic ritonavir tablet-boosted atazanavir in HIV-1-infected Thai adults.

Background: Ritonavir (RTV) tablets were not available in Thailand until they were manufactured by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization of Thailand. We assessed pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and efficacy of generic RTV-boosted atazanavir (ATV) in virologically suppressed HIV-1-infected Thai adults.

Methods: Virologically suppressed HIV-1-infected Thai adults who currently use ATV (either 200 or 300 mg) with Norvir soft gel capsule (SGC) 100-mg-based regimen were enrolled into this prospective, 48-week single-arm study.

The sulphorhodamine (SRB) assay and other approaches to testing plant extracts and derived compounds for activities related to reputed anticancer activity.

Since the major approach in searching for potential anticancer agents over the last 50 years has been based on selective cytotoxic effects on mammalian cancer cell lines, cell-based methods for cytotoxicity are described and compared. The sulphorhodamine B (SRB) assay is described in detail as the preferred method and also a novel approach has been developed which is based on the hypothesis that, in some circumstances, the naturally occurring compounds act as prodrugs rather than active compounds in their own right. Consequently, extracts or compounds are pre-incubated with systems modelling metabolic processes in the body before being tested.