Entry Inhibitors
These are a fairly new group of
HIV drugs. They work totally different than other HIV medications. Instead of working from the inside of cells, entry inhibitors actually work to stop HIV from entering human cells. This group of medications includes those drugs that prevent the HIV from connecting to human cells (known as fusion inhibitors), although sometimes fusion inhibitors are considered to be a separate class. Entry inhibitor medications include:
Integrase Inhibitors
This group is the newest of all HIV medications. Currently, there is only one medication in this class,
raltegravir (
Isentress™). Raltegravir inhibits an enzyme called integrase. Integrase is necessary for the viral DNA to be inserted into the human DNA. By inhibiting integrase, raltegravir helps to prevent the virus from making new copies of itself. It is important to remember that raltegravir is not a cure for HIV or
AIDS.
Combination Medications From Different Classes
There are many different combination HIV drugs available. HIV and AIDS drugs are usually best used as part of an HIV "cocktail." These cocktails usually consist of three or four (or sometimes five) different HIV medications (technically known as Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy, or HAART). Using a combination of medications helps to prevent the virus from becoming resistant to one or more of the drugs.
In order to help reduce the number of pills that must be taken, many of these medications are combined together in one capsule or tablet. Sometimes, these medications combine drugs from different classes, such as:
Previous
Add this article to your Favorites
Email this article
Print