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Questions &
Answers about Multi-Drug Resistant HIV
AIDS
Meds
In the ten years since effective antiretroviral medications
became available, it has become undeniably evident that successful
therapy depends on achieving complete virus suppression. If
antiretroviral therapy is inadequate and virus is able to
replicate, then drug resistance can develop. Once drug resistance
develops, available medications have a much reduced chance
of efficacy.
How
HIV medications work.
HIV medications act to disrupt the HIV life cycle to help
prevent HIV
from reproducing. These medications work in different stages
of the HIV life cycle to cover several bases and are used
in combination with each other.
These
are the different classes of HIV meds that are currently available:
- Non-Nucleoside
Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs) These
medications attach themselves to the reverse transcriptase
enzyme so that RNA cannot make DNA. Sustiva, Viramune and
Rescriptor are NNRTIs.
- Nucleoside
Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs)
These medications replace natural building blocks normally
used by HIV to make copies of itself so that RNA cannot
make DNA. Combivir, Emtriva, Epivir, Hivid, Retrovir, Trizivir,
Videx, Videx EC, Zerit and Ziagen are NRTIs.
- Nucleotide
Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NtRTIs)
NtRTIs are similar to NRTIs but are chemically pre-activated,
allowing them to enter the HIV's DNA more rapidly than NRTIs.
Viread is a NtRTI.
- Protease
Inhibitors (PIs) PIs can stop the protease
enzyme from cutting protein chains to smaller pieces that
are needed to coat the new viral DNA. As a result, these
small pieces are incomplete and cannot infect any other
CD-4 cells. Agenerase, Crixivan, Fortovase, Kaletra, Lexiva,
Norvir, Reyataz, and Viracept are PIs.
- Fusion
Inhibitors (FIs) FIs work by blocking HIV
from entering the CD-4 cell. They work outside the cell
and inhibit the HIV virus from joining (fusing) with the
CD-4 cell. Fuzeon is a FI.
- Integrase
Inhibitors (IIs) These are a new class of
drug that are becoming more common and will be much used
soon. They work by blocking an enzyme needed to allow the
HIV genetic material being integrated into the human DNA.
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