Guidelines for use of antiretroviral agents continue to shift toward earlier and more continuous treatment, both to treat the patient and to prevent transmission of the disease to others.1-3 Resistance testing is now recommended when antiretroviral drugs are started.4 Increases in HIV RNA levels ("viral load") while on therapy may indicate development of drug resistance, requiring further testing and a change in the treatment regimen. Antiretroviral drugs interact with each other and with many other drugs; complete information on these interactions is available at www.aidsinfo.nih.gov.

Antiretroviral treatment regimens usually include a "backbone" and a "base". The backbone is typically two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). The base can be a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), a protease inhibitor (PI), ... more      

Would you like to read the rest of this article?  Gain access below.