Recent developments in the chemotherapy of HIV infections

The HIV replicative cycle reveals several virus-specific events that could function as targets for chemotherapeutic intervention. The compounds that are presently available as anti-HIV drugs are targeted at either the substrate binding site of the reverse transcriptase (zidovudine, didanosine, zalcitabine, stavudine, lamivudine) or a non-substrate binding site of the reverse transcriptase (nevirapine, delavirdine), or the viral protease (saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, nelfinavir). Various other compounds targeted at either the reverse transcriptase or viral protease are still under clinical development, and so are a number of compounds that interact with other targets of the HIV replicative cycle. Remarkable clinical efficacy has been observed with combinations of different reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors. It may be anticipated that with the advent of newer and more efficient compounds the effectiveness of HIV inhibition could still be improved upon and the prospects for a definitive cure of the disease may be accomplished.