9 Anti-retroviral agents Flashcards
what is a retrovirus
RNA that went to DNA (carries reverse transcriptase)
what is critical for DNA synthesis
Oxygen atom
what is Azidothymidine
a Nucleoside analogue Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NRTI)
what phosphorylates Azidothymidine:
All three phosphate groups are added dependent on the HOST cells
what is the effect of Azidothymidine
AZT-triphosphate acts as DNA chain terminator and will stick the reverse transcriptase = inhibit it
No oxygen atom so causes chain termination
does Azidothymidine work
AZT increase life from studies - 19 deaths, 18 in placebo arm
effect of treating patients with AZT before getting AIDs
no prolonged survival – the period of time that improve doesn’t last
Useful therapeutic life of about 6 months after this = no effect
what were the next NRTIs
ddC and ddI
what are ddC and ddI
2’3’dideoxy NAs developed
what is the toxicity of ddC and ddI
infect other organs (peripheral neuropathy, pancreatitis)
what led to the more sustained CD4 response
AZT + ddC or ddI
Give both drugs instead of just AZT = may improve life length
why is it better response giving AZT and ddC/ddI
Asking virus to acquire 9 mutations to become resistant to both as opposed to 5 to become resistant to AZT- take virus longer
what are NRTIs
Nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors
what are NTRIs like
analogues of native nucleotides sharing the common motif of a lack of ‘3-OH group on their ribose ring
what do NTRIs require
Must be phosphorylated by cellular kinases before they can effectively exert their actions
NRTIs and native nucleosides