HIV Treatment Options
Unfortunately, there is still no cure or effective vaccine for HIV infection. However, today, there are quite a few medication options for treating HIV, including combination therapies known as cART (combination antiretroviral therapy).
Types of HIV drugs
There are six different classes of HIV drugs approved for use in the United States. These are:
- Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs)
- Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)
- Protease Inhibitors (PIs)
- Entry Inhibitors
- Fusion Inhibitors
- Integrase Inhibitors
Each type of HIV drug fights the virus in its own way by interfering with the production of new virus within the body. NRTIs and NNRTIs prevent the production of reverse transcriptase, a protein necessary for virus replication. Protease inhibitors prevent HIV's use of an enzyme critical to its replication. Entry and fusion inhibitors are HIV drugs that interfere with the virus' attempts to enter healthy CD4+ cells. Integrase inhibitors block the integration of HIV genetic material (viral DNA) into the genetic material of the body's own cells.
HIV drugs in combination therapy
Because each of these HIV drugs attacks the virus at different stages of its lifecycle, they are used in combination. This approach is known as "combination antiretroviral therapy" (cART) and combines three or more HIV drugs from among the different classes (e.g., two NRTIs and one PI). Some HIV drugs are combined in one pill (coformulation), allowing for fewer pills than when each drug is taken separately.
Beyond medication
Treatment with HIV drugs is only one part of maintaining a strong immune system. Nutrition, exercise, and your mental health are also important parts of addressing your well-being. Be sure to work with your healthcare provider to determine a course of disease management that is appropriate.
Selected Important Safety Information
About REYATAZ® (atazanavir sulfate)
Do not take REYATAZ if you are taking the following medicines due to potential for serious, life-threatening side effects or death: Versed® (midazolam) when taken by mouth, Halcion® (triazolam), ergot medicines (dihydroergotamine, ergonovine, ergotamine, and methylergonovine such as Cafergot®, Migranal®, D.H.E. 45®, ergotrate maleate, Methergine®, and others), Propulsid® (cisapride), or Orap® (pimozide).
Do not take REYATAZ with the following medicines due to potential for serious side effects: Camptosar® (irinotecan), Crixivan® (indinavir), Mevacor® (lovastatin), Zocor® (simvastatin), Uroxatral® (alfuzosin), or Revatio® (sildenafil).
Do not take REYATAZ with the following medicines as they may lower
the amount of REYATAZ in your blood, which may lead to increased HIV
viral load and resistance to REYATAZ or other anti-HIV medicines: rifampin
(also known as Rimactane®, Rifadin®, Rifater®, or Rifamate®), St. John’s
wort (Hypericum perforatum)-containing products, or Viramune® (nevirapine).
Serevent Diskus® (salmeterol) and Advair® (salmeterol with fluticasone) are not recommended with REYATAZ.
Do not take Vfend® (voriconazole) if you are taking REYATAZ and Norvir® (ritonavir).
The above lists of medicines are not complete. Taking REYATAZ with some other medicines may require your therapy to be monitored more closely or may require a change in dose or dose schedule of REYATAZ or the other medicine. Discuss with your healthcare provider all prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamin and herbal supplements, or other health preparations you are taking or plan to take.
Read more REYATAZ Important Safety Information.
*"Undetectable" is defined as a viral load that is too low to be picked up by a particular test. Typically, it is a viral load of less than 400 or 50 copies/mL (depending on test used).