Both of the medications in
Kaletra belong to a group of
HIV medications known as protease inhibitors. These medicines work by blocking a process that the HIV virus needs in order to multiply.
Like other viruses, HIV must use a person's own cells to reproduce. Once inside an infected cell, the HIV virus uses the cell to make DNA, which enables it to make new HIV viruses that can spread to other cells. The DNA is made in long strands that must be clipped into shorter, usable strands using enzymes called proteases.
Kaletra is a protease inhibitor, which means that it stops protease enzymes from clipping DNA into short strands. Since the long, unclipped DNA strands cannot be used to make new viruses, this helps stop the spread of HIV to other uninfected cells. Kaletra is not a cure for HIV or
AIDS, however. It can help stop HIV from infecting healthy cells in the body, but it does not help cells that have already been infected with the virus.
Even though
ritonavir is a protease inhibitor, it is not used for its antiviral activity. Instead, it is used to increase the level of lopinavir in the blood. It does this by slowing down the breakdown of lopinavir in the liver. By increasing the level of lopinavir in the blood, ritonavir helps Kaletra to work better.
Kaletra is approved for treating HIV or AIDS in children as young as six months old. Talk with your child's healthcare provider about the benefits and risks of using the drug in children.
On occasion, your healthcare provider may recommend Kaletra for treating something other than HIV infection and AIDS. This is called an "
off-label" use. At this time, Kaletra is used off-label to prevent HIV infection in people exposed to the HIV virus (such as a healthcare worker who comes in contact with a contaminated needle stick). This is called postexposure prophylaxis (PEP).
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