HIV-1 antiretroviral drug therapy

Abstract
The most significant advance in the medical management of HIV-1 infection has been
the treatment of patients with antiviral drugs, which can suppress HIV-1 replication to
undetectable levels. The discovery of HIV-1 as the causative agent of AIDS together
with an ever-increasing understanding of the virus replication cycle have been
instrumental in this effort by providing researchers with the knowledge and tools
required to prosecute drug discovery efforts focused on targeted inhibition with specific
pharmacological agents. To date, an arsenal of 24 Food and Drug Administration
(FDA)-approved drugs are available for treatment of HIV-1 infections. These drugs are
distributed into six distinct classes based on their molecular mechanism and resistance
profiles: (1) nucleoside-analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), (2) non-
nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), (3) integrase inhibitors, (4)
protease inhibitors (PIs), (5) fusion inhibitors, and (6) coreceptor antagonists. In this
article, we will review the basic principles of antiretroviral drug therapy, the mode of
drug action, and the factors leading to treatment failure (i.e., drug resistance).

Reference
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22474613/