Effect of Monotherapy with Darunavir/Ritonavir on Viral Load in Seminal Fluid, and Quality Parameters of Semen in HIV-1-Positive Patients López Ruz, Miguel Ángel Navas, Purificación López Zúñiga, Miguel Ángel Gonzalvo, Maria Carmen Sampedro, Antonio Pasquau Liaño, Juan Hidalgo Tenorio, Carmen Javier, Rosario Castilla Alcalá, José Antonio Patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) who receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) often achieve increased survival and improved quality of life. In this respect, monotherapy with darunavir/ritonavir (mDRV/r) can be a useful treatment strategy. This prospective study analyses the effect of mDRV/r on sperm quality and viral load in a group of 28 patients who had previously been given conventional ART and who had recorded a viral load <20 copies/mL for at least six months. These patients were given mDRV/r at a dose of 800/100 mg for 48 weeks. At baseline (V0), CD4, CD8, FSH, LH and testosterone levels were measured, together with HIV-1 viral load in plasma and semen. In addition, seminal fluid quality was studied before mDRV/r treatment was prescribed. At week 48 (V1), HIV-1 viral load in plasma and semen and the quality of the seminal fluid were again measured. The results obtained indicate that at V0, 10% of the patients with ART had a positive viral load in seminal fluid (>20 copies/ml), and that at V1, after mDRV/r treatment, this figure had fallen to 3%. The quality of seminal fluid was close to normal in 57% of patients at V0 and in 62% at V1. We conclude that, similar to ART, mDRV/r maintains HIV-1 viral load in most patients, and that there is no worsening in seminal fluid quality. 2024-04-22T07:12:30Z 2024-04-22T07:12:30Z 2016-07 journal article PLoS One . 2016 Jul 21;11(7):e0159305 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/90970 10.1371/journal.pone.0159305 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ open access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License