Determination of dosing guidelines for stavudine (2',3'-didehydro-3'-deoxythymidine) in children with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

The results of the development of dosing guidelines for stavudine in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children are summarized. Included in the integrated analyses were 21 and 33 HIV-infected pediatric and adult patients, respectively, from three phase I-II studies. Data for 21 children and 18 adults who received intravenous doses of 0.125 to 2 and 0.5 to 1 mg/kg of body weight, respectively, were used for the determination of dosing guidelines; exposure data for 16 children and 15 adults who received oral doses of 1 to 2 and 0.5 to 1 mg/kg/day, respectively, were used to validate the dosing recommendations for children. Significant relationships were observed between total body clearance (in milliliters per minute) in children and adults combined and demographic parameters of age, body weight, and body surface area (R(2) = 0.77 to 0.80; P = 0.0001). Models of approximated pediatric dose based on clearance values and direct adult exposure yielded a stavudine dosage of 2 mg/kg/day for children of < or =30 kg of body weight and 1 mg/kg/day (adult dose) for children of >30 kg of body weight.