Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2010 Nov;88(5):598-609.
doi: 10.1038/clpt.2010.189. Epub 2010 Sep 29.

Pharmacologic opportunities for HIV prevention

Affiliations
Review

Pharmacologic opportunities for HIV prevention

M R Nicol et al. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2010 Nov.

Erratum in

  • Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2011 Aug;90(2):343

Abstract

Innovations in antiretroviral (ARV) treatment strategies have resulted in treated HIV-infected patients having life expectancies similar to those of uninfected individuals. Yet the number of individuals capable of HIV transmission is increasing-for every person in whom ARV treatment is initiated, four others are becoming newly infected with HIV. The limited progress with microbicides and vaccines for HIV prevention reinforce the need for a concentrated exploration of the utility of ARVs. Preliminary animal studies with topical and systemic ARVs show promising results. However, current clinical trials were designed without a comprehensive understanding of ARV pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships in HIV prevention. This review focuses on current strategies for the prevention of HIV infection and on the ways in which the tools of pharmacology can be a valuable resource for determining pharmacodynamic targets, providing interspecies scaling of exposures, identifying the optimal drugs/drug combinations, doses, and dosing regimens, and designing efficient clinical trials.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Opportunities for prevention. PEP, postexposure prophylaxis; PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Timeline of mucosal infection. ARV, antiretroviral.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relationship of total genital tract exposure to blood plasma protein binding. 3TC, lamivudine; ABC, abacavir; APV, amprenavir; ATV, atazanavir; AZT, zidovudine; D4T, stavudine; DDI, didanosine; DLV, delavirdine; EFV, efavirenz; FTC, emtricitabine; IDV, indinavir; LPV, lopinavir; MVC, maraviroc; NVP, nevirapine; RTV, ritonavir; SQV, saquinavir; TNF, tenofovir.
Figure 4
Figure 4
What should be measured for accurate pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic evaluations? *Only nucleoside/tide analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors require phosphorylation for activation. ARV-P-P-P = tri-phosphorylated metabolite; fub = fraction of drug that is unbound from protein.

References

    1. Van Sighem A, Gras L, Reiss P, Brinkman K, de Wolf F. Life expectancy of recently diagnosed asymptomatic HIV-infected patients approaches that of uninfected individuals. 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; San Francisco, CA. 16–19 February 2010. - PubMed
    1. UNAIDS AIDS Epidemic Update 2009. 2009 Nov; http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/EpiUpdate/EpiUpdArchive....
    1. CDC HIV Transmission Rates in the United States. 2008 Dec; http://cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/factsheets/transmission....
    1. Coates TJ, Richter L, Caceres C. Behavioural strategies to reduce HIV transmission: how to make them work better. Lancet. 2008;372:669–684. - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO Towards Universal Access: Scaling Up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector. Progress Report 2007. 2007 http://www.who.int/hiv/mediacentre/universal_access_progress_report_en.pdf.

Publication types