Drugs approved for AIDS/HIV treatment
Drug |
Mechanism of Action |
First category: Nucleoside analogs |
|
Azidothymidine (AZT) |
Reverse transcriptase inhibitor; nucleotide chain synthesis terminator; increases survival time and reduces incidence of opportunistic infections in AIDS patients; toxic to bone marrow cells; may be used in combination with other drugs in multiple drug treatment protocols. |
Dideoxycytidine (ddC or zalcitabine) Dideoxyinosine (ddI or didanosine) Stavudine (d4T) Lamivudine (3TC) |
Reverse trancriptase inhibitor; mechanism of action and effects are the some as AZT; may have less toxicity than AZT in some patients; may be used in combination with other drugs in multiple drug treatment protocols. |
Second category : Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) |
|
Efavirenz |
Bind directly to reverse transcriptase and disrupt the catalytic site; do not compete with nucleoside; may be used in combination with other drugs in multiple drug treatment protocols. |
Third category : Protease inhibitors |
|
Indinavir |
Computer-designed peptide analogs designed to bind to the active site of HIV protease, inhibiting processing of viral polypeptides and virus maturation; many be used in combination with other drugs in multiple drug treatment protocols. |