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Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir)

Antiretroviralprescriptionoral · inferred

Cytidine-analog NRTI for HIV-1 and hepatitis B. Typical HIV dose 300 mg PO once daily (or 150 mg BID); HBV dose 100 mg QD. Plasma half-life ~5-7h, with the active intracellular 3TC-triphosphate anabolite displaying a longer intracellular half-life (~18-22h) that supports once-daily dosing. Oral bioavailability ~86%. Primarily renally eliminated unchanged; dose adjust for CrCl. Low toxicity profile; select for M184V resistance mutation in HIV and YMDD mutants in HBV.

Projected serum levels — 300 mg, once daily

Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir)
Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) modeled serum levels, 300 mg once daily over 15 days Population-based pharmacokinetic estimate. Steady state reached after approximately 1 days. 0 50 100 150 200 Day 0 Day 4 Day 8 Day 11 Day 15 Time on a regular schedule ≈ steady state · day 1

Maintenance schedule: 300 mg once daily (oral).

Modeled steady state after ~1 days: peak ≈ 169 mg, trough ≈ 0.12 mg body load. Population-based estimate over 15 days for a 300 mg dose at a 70 kg reference body mass — the interactive app scales curves to your doses, timing, and body mass.

Key facts

Category
Antiretroviral
Route modeled
Oral
Model confidence
inferred
Half-life
5.8 h
Common dose
300 mg
Suggested maximum
300 mg/day
Reference dose range
150–300 mg (single dose)
Suggested cadence
once daily
Validated against
150 mg oral — Cmax 1.5 mg/L at 1 h

Documented interactions

  • moderate
    Dolutegravir (DTG / Tivicay) + Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) Transporter inhibition

    Dolutegravir (DTG / Tivicay) inhibitor of OCT2 may alter Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) absorption / distribution

  • moderate
    Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim) + Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) Transporter inhibition

    Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim) inhibitor of OCT2 may alter Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) absorption / distribution

  • watch
    Biktarvy (BIC/FTC/TAF) + Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) Stacked effects

    Biktarvy (BIC/FTC/TAF) and Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) both push the hiv reverse transcriptase nrti in the same direction.

  • watch
    Descovy (TAF/FTC) + Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) Stacked effects

    Descovy (TAF/FTC) and Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) both push the hiv reverse transcriptase nrti in the same direction.

  • watch
    Emtricitabine (FTC / Emtriva) + Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) Stacked effects

    Emtricitabine (FTC / Emtriva) and Lamivudine (3TC, Epivir) both push the hiv reverse transcriptase nrti in the same direction.

Serum checks 8 modeled interaction pairings for lamivudine (3tc, epivir) across your whole stack — absorption conflicts, enzyme inhibition, and nutrient depletion included.

Research behind this entry

  1. Clinical pharmacokinetics of lamivudine Johnson MA et al. · Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 1999 DOI

    Comprehensive PK review: oral F ~86%, plasma t1/2 5-7h, intracellular 3TC-TP t1/2 ~18h, predominantly renal elimination.

  2. Clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of lamivudine Moore KHP et al. · Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 1999 DOI

    Summarizes lamivudine disposition across HIV and HBV populations, renal clearance dependence, and rationale for QD vs BID dosing.

2 published studies referenced in the app, each with a plain-language summary.