Adherence as a particular issue with protease inhibitors.

Suboptimal therapeutic doses of HIV protease inhibitors lead to the emergence of drug resistance and reduced drug efficacy. It is imperative, then, that patients and clinicians alike are fully educated about the importance of patients taking all the pills in these new, admittedly complex, antiretroviral regimens. With protease inhibitors especially, missing doses and/or taking drug holidays or partial doses will mean the rapid emergence of HIV isolates that are resistant to these drugs.