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The drug works by inhibiting reverse transcriptase, the enzyme that copies HIV RNA into new viral DNA. By interfering with this process, which is central to the replication of HIV, emtricitabine can help to lower the amount of HIV, or " viral load ", in a patient's body and can indirectly increase the number of immune system cells (namely T ...
Some of the most well known are antiviral drugs widely used to treat HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and COVID-19. These protease inhibitors prevent viral replication by selectively binding to viral proteases (e.g. HIV-1 protease) and blocking proteolytic cleavage of protein precursors that are necessary for the production of infectious viral particles.
Later reviews in the late 90s and early 2000s noted that this approach of "hit hard, hit early" ran significant risks of increasing side effects and development of multidrug resistance, and this approach was largely abandoned. The only consensus was on treating patients with advanced immunosuppression (CD4 counts less than 350/μL). [29]
Ritonavir, sold under the brand name Norvir, is an antiretroviral medication used along with other medications to treat HIV/AIDS. [4] [5] [8] This combination treatment is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). [8] Ritonavir is a protease inhibitor, though it now mainly serves to boost the potency of other protease inhibitors.
Atazanavir/ritonavir (ATV/r) is a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral medication used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. [1] It combines atazanavir and ritonavir. [1] It may be used instead of lopinavir/ritonavir. [2] It is taken by mouth. [1] Side effects are generally minimal. [2]
Combination therapy for HIV, often called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), is composed of two or more types of antiretroviral drugs. Combination therapy decreases the likelihood that drug resistance will occur, because it is unlikely that the HIV-1 strains will be able to mutate enough to become resistant to all drugs being used in ...
Emtricitabine/tenofovir is also used for HIV post-exposure prophylaxis. People who start taking emtricitabine/tenofovir see HIV reduction benefits up to 72 hours after starting, but the medicine must be taken for thirty days after a high-risk sexual event to ensure HIV transmission levels are optimally reduced. [21] [22]
Nelfinavir is a protease inhibitor: it inhibits HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteases. HIV protease is an aspartate protease which splits viral protein molecules into smaller fragments, and it is vital to both the replication of the virus within the cell, and also to the release of mature viral particles from an infected cell.