Treatment and management of HIV/AIDS

There is no cure for HIV/AIDS, but a variety of
drugs can be used in combination to control the virus. Each class of anti-HIV
drugs blocks the virus in different ways. UNAIDS (2006) stated that it is best to combine at least
three drugs from two classes to avoid creating strains of HIV that are immune
to single drugs. The classes of anti-HIV drugs include:

Non-nucleoside
reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs):
NNRTIs disable a protein needed by HIV to make copies of itself. Examples
include efavirenz (Sustiva), etravirine (Intelence) and nevirapine
(Viramune).
Nucleoside
or nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs):
NRTIs are faulty versions of building blocks that HIV needs to make copies
of itself. Examples include Abacavir (Ziagen), and the combination drugs
emtricitabine-tenofovir (Truvada), and lamivudine-zidovudine (Combivir).
Protease
inhibitors (PIs): PIs disable protease,
another protein that HIV needs to make copies of itself. Examples include
atazanavir (Reyataz), darunavir (Prezista), fosamprenavir (Lexiva) and
indinavir (Crixivan).
Entry
or fusion inhibitors: These drugs block HIV’s
entry into CD4 cells. Examples include enfuvirtide (Fuzeon) and maraviroc
(Selzentry).
Integrase
inhibitors: These drugs work by disabling integrase, a
protein that HIV uses to insert its genetic material into CD4 cells.
Examples include raltegravir (Isentress), elvitegravir (Vitekta) and
dolutegravir (Tivicay).