Antivirals Flashcards
What class of drug is Aciclovir?
What is the mechanism of action of aciclovir?
What is the benefit of aciclovir being selective and having a low cytotoxicity?
DNA polymerase inhibitor.
Converted to aciclovir triphosphate which competitively inhibits viral DNA polymerase.
Also competes with natural deoxyguanosine triphosphate for incorporation into viral DNA.
Once incorporated into viral DNA, aciclovir acts as a termination signal.
It does not affect normal cells.
What class of drug is Amantidine?
As well as being an antiviral, what else does Amantidine act as?
What is the mechanism of action of Amantidine?
Viral ion channel disruptor.
An anti Parkinsonism agent (combined with Levodopa)
Inhibits the M2 viral protein (an ion channel), which is needed for a virus to become ‘uncoated’ once it has been taken inside the cell by endocytosis.
What class of drug is amprenavir?
What is the mechanism of action of amprenavir?
What virus does Amprenavir treat?
Protease inhibitor.
Inhibits HIV-1 protease which is required for cleavage of viral poly protein precursors into individual functional proteins.
This inhibition causes the production of immature non-infectious viral particles.
Protease inhibitors are usually used in combination with other antivirals.
Effective against HIV-1.
What class of drug is Zidovudine?
What is the mechanism of action of Zidovudine?
What is DNA chain termination caused by?
Thymidine analogue (NRTI).
Competes for incorporation into viral DNA. Incorporation causes inhibition if HIV-1 reverse transcriptase via chain termination. Overall effect is termination of viral DNA growth.
Lack of 3-OH groups preventing 5’ to 3’ phosphodiester linkage essential for DNA chain elongation.
