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Types of antiretroviral drugs
There are five main types of antiretroviral drugs:
- nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), which target an HIV protein called reverse transcriptase.
- non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), which also target reverse transcriptase.
- nucleotide analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NtRTIs), which also target reverse transcriptase.
- protease inhibitors (PIs), which target an HIV protein called protease.
- fusion inhibitors, which target the point where HIV binds onto cells of the immune system.
Each class of drug attacks HIV in a different way. Generally drugs from two (or sometimes three) classes are combined to ensure a powerful attack on HIV.