Table 2.
Summary of antiretroviral drug classes.
| Drug Class | Activity | Drugs | Release year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nucleoside/Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTI) | NRTIs are mimetics of nucleosides/nucleotides and bind to the active site of the polymerase domain in the viral RT enzyme, inhibiting the synthesis of double-stranded viral cDNA | Zidovudine (AZT) | 1987 |
| Didanosine (ddI) | 1991 | ||
| Zalcitabine (ddC) | 1992 | ||
| Stavudine (d4T) | 1994 | ||
| Lamivudine (3TC) | 1995 | ||
| Abacavir (ABC) | 1998 | ||
| Tenofovir (TDF) | 2001 | ||
| Emtricitabine (FTC) | 2003 | ||
| Protease Inhibitors (PI) | PIs are mimetics of viral peptides and bind to the active site of the protease enzyme, preventing viral maturation in a late step of virus life cycle | Saquinavir (SQV) | 1995 |
| Ritonavir (RTV) | 1996 | ||
| Indinavir (IDV) | 1996 | ||
| Nelfinavir (NFV) | 1997 | ||
| Amprenavir (APV) | 1999 | ||
| Lopinavir (LPV/r) | 2000 | ||
| Atazanavir (ATV) | 2003 | ||
| Fosamprenavir (fAPV) | 2003 | ||
| Tipranavir (TPV) | 2005 | ||
| Darunavir (DRV) | 2006 | ||
| Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTI) | NNRTIs are designed to bind to an RT hydrophobic pocket, modifying its structure allosterically and impairing the polymerase domain catalytic site | Nevirapine (NVP) | 1996 |
| Delavirdine (DLV) | 1997 | ||
| Efavirenz (EFV) | 1998 | ||
| Etravirine (ETR) | 2008 | ||
| Entry Inhibitors (EI) | EIs are small peptides that bind to envelope viral proteins (gp41 or gp120) and prevent the fusion between viral envelope and cellular membranes or virus attachment to co-receptors in early steps of the virus life cycle | Enfurvirtide (T-20) | 2003 |
| Maraviroc (MVC) | 2007 | ||
| Integrase Inhibitors (II) | IIs bind to the viral integrase and prevent the integration of the viral double-stranded cDNA into the host cellular genome in the early steps of the virus life | Raltegravir (RAL) | 2007 |