Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), was the first antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child spread during birth or after a needlestick injury or other potential exposure. It is sold both by itself and together as lamivudine/zidovudine and abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine. It can be used by mouth or by slow injection into a vein.
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system, and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death. HAART also prevents the transmission of HIV between serodiscordant same-sex and opposite-sex partners so long as the HIV-positive partner maintains an undetectable viral load.
Reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) are a class of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection or AIDS, and in some cases hepatitis B. RTIs inhibit activity of reverse transcriptase, a viral DNA polymerase that is required for replication of HIV and other retroviruses.
Zalcitabine, also called dideoxycytidine, is a nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) sold under the trade name Hivid. Zalcitabine was the third antiretroviral to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. It is used as part of a combination regimen.
Stavudine (d4T), sold under the brand name Zerit among others, is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use with other antiretrovirals. It may be used for prevention after a needlestick injury or other potential exposure. However, it is not a first-line treatment. It is given by mouth.
Lamivudine, commonly called 3TC, is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is also used to treat chronic hepatitis B when other options are not possible. It is effective against both HIV-1 and HIV-2. It is typically used in combination with other antiretrovirals such as zidovudine, dolutegravir, and abacavir. Lamivudine may be included as part of post-exposure prevention in those who have been potentially exposed to HIV. Lamivudine is taken by mouth as a liquid or tablet.
Nevirapine (NVP), sold under the brand name Viramune among others, is a medication used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS, specifically HIV-1. It is generally recommended for use with other antiretroviral medications. It may be used to prevent mother to child spread during birth but is not recommended following other exposures. It is taken by mouth.
This is a list of AIDS-related topics, many of which were originally taken from the public domain U.S. Department of Health Glossary of HIV/AIDS-Related Terms, 4th Edition.
Efavirenz (EFV), sold under the brand names Sustiva among others, is an antiretroviral medication used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use with other antiretrovirals. It may be used for prevention after a needlestick injury or other potential exposure. It is sold both by itself and in combination as efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir. It is taken by mouth.
Nucleoside analogues are structural analogues of a nucleoside, which normally contain a nucleobase and a sugar. Nucleotide analogues are analogues of a nucleotide, which normally has one to three phosphates linked to a nucleoside. Both types of compounds can deviate from what they mimick in a number of ways, as changes can be made to any of the constituent parts. They are related to nucleic acid analogues.
The Rega Institute for Medical Research is a Belgian scientific establishment that is part of the Catholic University of Leuven (Leuven) in central Belgium. The Rega Institute is an interfacultary biomedical research institute of the Catholic University of Leuven and consists of departments of medicine and pharmacology.
Lamivudine/zidovudine, sold under the brand name Combivir among others, is a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral medication used to treat HIV/AIDS. It contains two antiretroviral medications, lamivudine and zidovudine. It is used together with other antiretrovirals. It is taken by mouth twice a day.
A resistance mutation is a mutation in a virus gene that allows the virus to become resistant to treatment with a particular antiviral drug. The term was first used in the management of HIV, the first virus in which genome sequencing was routinely used to look for drug resistance. At the time of infection, a virus will infect and begin to replicate within a preliminary cell. As subsequent cells are infected, random mutations will occur in the viral genome. When these mutations begin to accumulate, antiviral methods will kill the wild type strain, but will not be able to kill one or many mutated forms of the original virus. At this point a resistance mutation has occurred because the new strain of virus is now resistant to the antiviral treatment that would have killed the original virus. Resistance mutations are evident and widely studied in HIV due to its high rate of mutation and prevalence in the general population. Resistance mutation is now studied in bacteriology and parasitology.
Etravirine (ETR,), sold under the brand name Intelence is an antiretroviral medication used for the treatment of HIV. Etravirine is a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). Unlike agents in the class, resistance to other NNRTIs does not seem to confer resistance to etravirine. Etravirine is marketed by Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. In January 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its use for people with established resistance to other drugs, making it the 30th anti-HIV drug approved in the United States and the first to be approved in 2008. It was also approved for use in Canada in April 2008.
Elvucitabine is an experimental nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), developed by Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the treatment of HIV infection.
Non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are antiretroviral drugs used in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). NNRTIs inhibit reverse transcriptase (RT), an enzyme that controls the replication of the genetic material of HIV. RT is one of the most popular targets in the field of antiretroviral drug development.
Discovery and development of nucleoside and nucleotide reverse-transcriptase inhibitors began in the 1980s when the AIDS epidemic hit Western societies. NRTIs inhibit the reverse transcriptase (RT), an enzyme that controls the replication of the genetic material of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The first NRTI was zidovudine, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1987, which was the first step towards treatment of HIV. Six NRTI agents and one NtRTI have followed. The NRTIs and the NtRTI are analogues of endogenous 2´-deoxy-nucleoside and nucleotide. Drug-resistant viruses are an inevitable consequence of prolonged exposure of HIV-1 to anti-HIV drugs.
The ProTide technology is a prodrug approach used in molecular biology and drug design. It is designed to deliver nucleotide analogues into the cell. This technology was invented by Professor Chris McGuigan from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University in the early 1990s. ProTides form a critical part of antiviral drugs such as sofosbuvir, tenofovir alafenamide, and remdesivir.
Islatravir is an investigational drug for the treatment of HIV infection. It is classified as a nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor (NRTTI). Merck is developing a subdermal drug-eluting implant to administer islatravir.
Bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide, sold under the brand name Biktarvy, is a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral medication for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. It contains bictegravir, a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase strand transfer inhibitor; emtricitabine, an HIV-1 nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor; and tenofovir alafenamide, an HIV-1 nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor.
