[Anti-HIV drugs]

Abstract

Anti-HIV drugs are fall into the following 5 categories: nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs), integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), and C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) inhibitors. An appropriate combination of anti-HIV drugs, which is called ART (anti-retroviral therapy), can suppress HIV replication for prolonged periods. Since many anti-HIV drugs with relatively few side effects as well as high-potency have been developed recently, early initiation of ART is recommended regardless of the patients' CD4+ T-cell counts. However, ART does not lead to eradication or cure of HIV because of latent infection. Interruption of ART leads to a rapid rebound of viremia, necessitating life-long treatment. Thus, strategies to eradicate HIV from latently infected cells are urgently needed.