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To prevent fusion of the virus with the host membrane, enfuvirtide can be used. Enfuvirtide is a peptide drug that must be injected and acts by interacting with the N-terminal heptad repeat of gp41 of HIV to form an inactive hetero six-helix bundle, therefore preventing infection of host cells. [12]
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 ...
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]
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]
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 ...
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.
Side effects can include joint pain, sleepiness, headaches, depression, trouble sleeping, and itchiness. [3] Severe side effects may include depression, psychosis, or osteonecrosis. [3] In those with a history of epilepsy, it may increase the frequency of seizures. [3] Greater care should also be taken in those with kidney problems. [3]
Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), sometimes less precisely called immune enhancement or disease enhancement, is a phenomenon in which binding of a virus to suboptimal antibodies enhances its entry into host cells, followed by its replication.