Drugs List
| Drug Class | Brand name | Generic name |
| Entry/attachment inhibitors | Fuzeon | enfuvirtide |
| Rukubio | fostemsavir | |
| Selzentry | maraviroc | |
| Trogarzo | ibalizumab |
How to start antiretroviral therapy?
- Being sick or depressed. How you feel mentally and physically can affect your willingness to stick to your treatment plan. ...
- Alcohol or drug use. ...
- If you need help finding substance use disorder treatment or mental health services, use SAMHSA’s Treatment Locator external icon .
How do antiretroviral drugs treat HIV?
Types of antiretroviral drug
- Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) NRTIs block the action of an enzyme called viral reverse transcriptase, which is necessary for HIV to replicate.
- Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) NNRTIs work similarly to NRTIs. ...
- Protease inhibitors (PIs) PIs impede another viral enzyme, called HIV protease. ...
- Entry inhibitors. ...
When to start anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS?
Ideally, a person should begin antiretroviral therapy on the day they receive a diagnosis of HIV, or as soon as possible after this . This gives people the best chance of reducing their viral load and risk of complications.
Can person with HIV antibodies still not have HIV?
No. They are considered HIV positive. They might not have active virus in their blood, but the virus hides in the immune system and can be passed to another person, usually through unprotected sex. Question: “Can a person with HIV antibodies still not have HIV?” Yes, there are at least two ways this can happen.
What is antiretroviral treatment and what are the benefits?
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the treatment for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection using a combination of Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. ARV drugs do not 'kill' HIV virus but prevents HIV virus from multiplying and destroying infection fighting CD4 (soldier of the body) cells.
How does antiretroviral treatment for HIV work?
Antiretroviral drugs HIV is treated with antiretroviral medicines, which work by stopping the virus replicating in the body. This allows the immune system to repair itself and prevent further damage. A combination of HIV drugs is used because HIV can quickly adapt and become resistant.
Which are the 5 antiretroviral drugs?
Currently, there are eight FDA-approved NRTIs: abacavir (ABC, Ziagen), didanosine (ddI, Videx), emtricitabine (FTC, Emtriva), lamivudine (3TC, Epivir), stavudine (d4T, Zerit), zalcitabine (ddC, Hivid), zidovudine (AZT, Retrovir), and Tenofovir disoprovil fumarate (TDF, Viread), a nucleotide RT inhibitor (Fig.
What are the 3 antiretroviral therapy?
The starting antiretroviral therapy regimen for adults and adolescents with HIV is usually one of the following:bictegravir/tenofovir alafenamide/emtricitabine (Biktarvy)dolutegravir (Tivicay) plus tenofovir/emtricitabine (Truvada)More items...
What's the meaning of antiretroviral?
Listen to pronunciation. (AN-tee-REH-troh-VY-rul THAYR-uh-pee) Treatment with drugs that inhibit the ability of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other types of retroviruses to multiply in the body.
How are antiretroviral drugs taken?
Antiretroviral therapy involves taking a combination of drugs each day. An HIV treatment regimen usually involves at least three different drugs from at least two different drug classes.
What is the name of the new ARV pill?
Early results from people taking a new antiretroviral medication called lenacapavir are promising. The long-acting drug is still at the research stage, but if the developers are able to pair it effectively with other drugs that also only needs to be taken twice a year, it could revolutionise HIV treatment.
Why is antiretroviral therapy important?
Effective antiretroviral therapy is the most important intervention in terms of improving longevity and preventing opportunistic infections in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
How many antiretroviral drugs are there?
There are more than 30 antiretroviral medications in six drug classes; these are listed below. Each class of drug attacks HIV in a different way.
What are the side effects of antiretroviral drugs?
Other side effects from antiretroviral drugs can include:hypersensitivity or allergic reactions, with symptoms such as fever, nausea, and vomiting.bleeding.bone loss.heart disease.high blood sugar and diabetes.lactic acidosis (high lactic acid levels in the blood)kidney, liver, or pancreas damage.More items...
What is HIV treatment?
HIV treatment (antiretroviral therapy or ART) involves taking medicine as prescribed by a health care provider. HIV treatment reduces the amount of...
When should I start HIV treatment?
Start HIV treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis. All people with HIV should take HIV treatment, no matter how long they’ve had HIV or how h...
What if I delay HIV treatment?
If you delay treatment, HIV will continue to harm your immune system. Delaying treatment will put you at higher risk for transmitting HIV to your p...
Are there different types of HIV treatment?
There are two types of HIV treatment: pills and shots. Pills are recommended for people who are just starting HIV treatment. There are many FDA-app...
What are HIV treatment shots?
HIV treatment shots are long-acting injections used to treat people with HIV. The shots are given by your health care provider and require routine...
Can I switch my HIV treatment from pills to shots?
Talk to your health care provider about changing your HIV treatment plan. Shots may be right for you if you are an adult with HIV who has an undete...
What are the benefits of taking my HIV treatment as prescribed?
HIV treatment reduces the amount of HIV in the blood (viral load). Taking your HIV medicine as prescribed will help keep your viral load low. HIV t...
Does HIV treatment cause side effects?
HIV treatment can cause side effects in some people. However, not everyone experiences side effects. The most common side effects are Nausea and vo...
What should I do if I’m thinking about having a baby?
Let your health care provider know if you or your partner is pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant. They will determine the right type of HIV...
Can I take birth control while on HIV treatment?
You can use any method of birth control to prevent pregnancy. However, some HIV treatment may make hormone-based birth control less effective. Talk...
WHAT IS ARV THERAPY?
ARV therapy means treating viral infections like HIV with drugs. The drugs do not kill the virus. However, they slow down the growth of the virus. When the virus is slowed down, so is HIV disease. Antiretroviral drugs are referred to as ARV. ARV therapy is referred to as ART.
WHAT IS THE HIV LIFE CYCLE?
There are several steps in the HIV life cycle. See Fact Sheet 400 for a diagram.
APPROVED ARV DRUGS
Each type, or "class", of ARV drugs attacks HIV in a different way. The first class of anti-HIV drugs was the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, also called "nukes". These drugs work by blocking Step 4, where the HIV genetic material is converted from RNA into DNA. Drugs in use in this class include:
HOW ARE THE DRUGS USED?
When HIV multiplies, most of the new copies are mutations: they are slightly different from the original virus. Some mutations keep multiplying even when you are taking an ARV drug. When this happens, the drug will stop working. This is called "developing resistance" to the drug.
CAN THESE DRUGS CURE AIDS?
A blood test called the " viral load " measures the amount of HIV virus in your bloodstream. People with lower viral loads stay healthier longer. See Fact Sheet 125 for more information on the viral load test.
WHEN DO I START?
There is not a clear answer to this question. Most doctors will consider three things: 1) your viral load; 2) your CD4 cell count; and 3) any symptoms you’ve had. ART is usually started if your viral load is over 100,000, if your CD4 cell count is below 350, or if you?ve had any symptoms of HIV disease.
WHICH DRUGS DO I USE?
Each ARV drug has side effects. Some are serious. Refer to the fact sheet for each individual drug. Some combinations of drugs are easier to tolerate than others, and some seem to work better than others. Each person is different, and you and your doctor will have to decide which drugs to use.
Why is it important to take HIV medication?
Taking HIV medication consistently, as prescribed, helps prevent drug resistance. Drug resistance develops when people with HIV are inconsistent with taking their HIV medication as prescribed. The virus can change (mutate) and will no longer respond to certain HIV medication. If you develop drug resistance, it will limit your options ...
How long does it take to get rid of HIV?
There is no effective cure for HIV. But with proper medical care, you can control HIV. Most people can get the virus under control within six months. Taking HIV medicine does not prevent transmission ...
What does it mean when your HIV is suppressed?
Viral suppression is defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood. HIV medicine can make the viral load so low that a test can’t detect it (called an undetectable viral load ). If your viral load goes down after starting HIV treatment, that means treatment is working.
What is the amount of HIV in the blood called?
The amount of HIV in the blood is called viral load . Taking your HIV medicine as prescribed will help keep your viral load low and your CD4 cell count high. HIV medicine can make the viral load very low (called viral suppression ). Viral suppression is defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood.
How long does it take for a mother to give her baby HIV?
If a mother with HIV takes HIV medicine as prescribed throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery and gives HIV medicine to her baby for 4 to 6 weeks after birth, the risk of transmitting HIV to her baby can be 1% or less.
Does HIV harm the immune system?
HIV will continue to harm your immune system. This will put you at higher risk for developing AIDS. Learn more about AIDS and opportunistic infections. This will put you at higher risk for transmitting HIV to your sexual and injection partners.
Can HIV be transmitted through sex?
If you have an undetectable viral load, you have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex. Having an undetectable viral load may also help prevent transmission from injection drug use.
What is the name of the enzyme that helps HIV replication?
Reduce transmission of HIV to others. The current classes of drugs included in antiretroviral therapies include: Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). HIV requires an enzyme called reverse transcriptase (RT) in order to replicate.
What is the name of the protein that blocks HIV from entering the body?
Entry or fusion inhibitors. These inhibitors block the virus’s ability to enter the body’s CD4 cells. Integrase inhibitors (INSTIs). Once HIV has penetrated a CD4 cell, it inserts genetic material into the cells with the assistance of a protein called integrase.
What is the purpose of combination therapy?
Each drug included in the combination therapy serves a unique purpose, but together they work to accomplish several important goals: Prevent the virus from replicating and reduce viral load. Help restore CD4 counts and immune function. Reduce complications from HIV and improve survival.
How many HIV medications should I take?
According to the National Institutes of Health, the current recommendations for an initial HIV drug regimen include three HIV medications from two or more different drug classes. Typically, this includes: two NRTIs with an INSTI, NNRTI, or PI. ritonavir or cobicistat as a booster.
What is the name of the drug that mutated into a form that no longer responded to the individual drugs?
In other words, HIV mutated (changed) into a form that no longer responded to the individual drugs. In 1995, a combination drug treatment known as the “AIDS cocktail” was introduced. This type of therapy was originally known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). It’s also called combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) ...
What are some examples of HIV related complications?
have previously experienced HIV-related dementia, cancer, or other HIV-related complications such as infections or nerve pain. have hepatitis B or hepatitis C.
How has ART changed HIV?
It has brought a sense of renewed hope for increased longevity in people living with HIV. In addition, it’s provided significant improvements in the overall quality of life for people living with HIV. Last medically reviewed on May 10, 2019.
How does early antiretroviral treatment affect AIDS?
Early antiretroviral treatment lowered the risk of serious AIDS-related events by 72%. Early treatment also lessened the risk of serious non-AIDS events by 39%. A limitation of the study, the researchers note, is that the participants were fairly young, with a median age of 36 years. In addition, they were only followed for 3 years, ...
How is AIDS treated?
AIDS is treated with antiretroviral drugs. These drugs suppress HIV but don’t completely eliminate the virus from the body. Guidelines for when to start treatment differ around the world because the evidence for using antiretroviral drugs when CD4+ counts are higher wasn’t definitive.
What type of cell is targeted by HIV?
Illustration of a white blood cell—the type of cell targeted by HIV Petersimoncik/iStock/Thinkstock. AIDS is caused by HIV, a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. The virus destroys CD4+ T cells, a type of white blood cell that’s vital to fighting off infection.
What is the purpose of antiretroviral drugs?
Latesha Elopre, MD, MSPH. on May 20, 2021. Ridofranz / Getty Images. Antiretroviral drugs are used to treat HIV infection. They work by blocking a stage of the virus's life cycle and, by doing so, prevent the virus from replicating.
What is the drug class for HIV?
By doing so, HIV can begin to churn out multiple copies of itself. Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) block the action of reverse transcriptase and so prevent the replication of the virus. DRUG CLASS: Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs) Brand Name. Generic Name.
What antiretroviral drugs have been discontinued?
While several new antiretroviral drugs have been added to the treatment arsenal since 2010, older ones like Crixivan (indinavir), Invirase (saquinavir), Rescriptor (delavirdine), Videx (didanosine), Viracept (nelfinavir), and Zerit (stavudine) have been discontinued and are no longer in use. An Overview of HIV Treatment.
What is the name of the drug that blocks reverse transcriptase?
Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) also block reverse transcriptase but in a different way. Rather than attaching to viral DNA like NRTIs do, NNRTIs bind directly to the enzyme, blocking its action.
What enzyme is used to replicate HIV?
Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors. In order for HIV to replicate, it uses an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to translate its viral RNA into double-stranded DNA, which is then integrated into the nucleus of the host cell to "hijack" its genetic machinery.
How does HIV produce long chain proteins?
Once HIV takes over the genetic machinery of the host cell, it produces long-chain proteins that must be cut into smaller pieces (by protease) in order to be assembled into a new viral particle. By binding to protease, the long-chain proteins cannot be cut and new viral particles cannot be produced.
How do entry/attachment inhibitors work?
Entry/Attachment Inhibitors. As per their name, entry/attachment inhibitors work by blocking the virus's ability to attach to or enter healthy host cells. They do so by binding to different receptors on the surface of the host cell that HIV uses to lock onto and/or enter the cell.
Which country has the highest HIV burden?
South Africa has the largest HIV burden in the world and a corresponding need for antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART, when taken correctly, provides patients with hope while improving their quality of life. In 2003, the South African government implemented a five-year ART rollout program.
Does South Africa have antiretroviral drugs?
The government of South Africa and some accredited non-governmental health facilities provide antiretroviral drugs at no cost in the public sector to HIV-infected South Africans with CD4 counts below 350.
How much does HIV cost?
One study estimated that costs of this care could run anywhere between $1,800 to $4,500 each month during a person’s lifetime. Most of this, about 60%, comes from the high cost of ART medications.
Can you take part in a clinical trial for HIV?
You may also be able to take part in a clinical trial for a new HIV/AIDS treatment that isn’t yet available to the general public. Often, the medicines being tested in these trials will be free of charge. Clinical trials are safe, but they are still experimental, so there may be a higher risk of side effects.
Can HIV drugs be generic?
But not all drugs have a generic available, especially if they are newer. Still, it’s always worth asking your doctor or pharmacist if there’s a less expensive version of your medication. Sometimes HIV can become resistant to more common drugs, so they don’t work as well in controlling your condition.
Do drug manufacturers offer patient assistance?
Many drug manufacturers also offer patient assistance programs for people who are eligible. Some pharmacies offer discounts on certain drugs, perhaps by negotiating discount prices by buying medications in bulk. Other organizations, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, have drug assistance programs of their own.
Can HIV be treated?
People with HIV can live longer, healthier lives than ever before thanks to HIV medicines and other therapies. These include once-a-day pills that treat the infection. But HIV treatments can be expensive. HIV care involves a type of medication called antiretroviral therapy (ART) and regular visits with your doctor.
What Is Antiretroviral Therapy?
- Antiretroviral therapy (ART) involves using two or more antiretroviral drugs to suppress the virus to undetectable levels in the blood. This treatment can slow the progression of the disease to a point at which you can live a long, healthy life.4 The benefits of an undetectable viral loadare thr…
How It Works
- Antiretroviral drugs do not kill HIV. Rather, they prevent the virus from making copies of itself by blocking stages in the virus's life cycle (also known as the replication cycle). Antiretrovirals are so named because HIV is a type of virus known as a retrovirus.4 The different classes of antiretrovirals are named after the specific stage of the replication cycle they inhibit (block). Th…
Side Effects
- While all drugs can cause side effects, current antiretrovirals tend to cause far fewer side effects than drugs of the past. Even so, side effects can occur and, in rare cases, be severe. Short-term side effects may include headache, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, and even a mild rash. These tend to resolve within a few weeks as your body adapts to treatment.4 Other side effects …
Tests
- Once you have been diagnosed with HIV, your doctor will advise to you start treatment immediately to bring the virus under control. You will not only be counseled on how to take your drugs correctly (including dietary restrictions) but also advised on ways to maintain optimal adherence. You will also be given baseline blood tests, called a CD4 count and viral load, agains…
Other Treatments
- There are no other medications other than antiretrovirals that can control HIV. Even so, there are drugs a doctor may prescribe along with ART if you are at risk of an opportunistic infection. These preventive medications, referred to a prophylactics, are commonly prescribed when your CD4 count is below 200 or 100.18 These may include daily oral antibiotics to prevent severe infection…
Talk to Your Doctor
- The choice of ART relies heavily on the results of a genetic resistance testthat helps determine which antiretrovirals work best based on your virus's genetic profile. But it is not the sole factor involved in the selection of ART.17 As you will be the one taking the pills every day, you will want medications with the greatest tolerability and the greatest ease of use. Both help improve adher…
A Word from Verywell
- Antiretroviral therapy has advanced to where people living with HIV enjoy long, healthy lives with minimal side effects or impact on lifestyle. With that said, the drugs only work if you take them, and that is where many people fall short. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), fewer than 60% of people living with HIV in the United States achieve and sustai…