Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2 Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
  • 3 Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  • 5 Nutrition Unit, Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Research Centre (NMCRC), Level 3, Block C, Institute for Medical Research (IMR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Complex, Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Rev Med Virol, 2024 Mar;34(2):e2529.
PMID: 38520650 DOI: 10.1002/rmv.2529

Abstract

The discovery of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs over the past 36 years has introduced various classes, including nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitor, fusion, and integrase strand transfer inhibitors inhibitors. The introduction of combined highly active anti-retroviral therapies in 1996 was later proven to combat further ARV drug resistance along with enhancing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) suppression. As though the development of ARV therapies was continuously expanding, the variation of action caused by ARV drugs, along with its current updates, was not comprehensively discussed, particularly for HIV-1 infection. Thus, a range of HIV-1 ARV medications is covered in this review, including new developments in ARV therapy based on the drug's mechanism of action, the challenges related to HIV-1, and the need for combination therapy. Optimistically, this article will consolidate the overall updates of HIV-1 ARV treatments and conclude the significance of HIV-1-related pharmacotherapy research to combat the global threat of HIV infection.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.