On February 11, Abbott Laboratories, a pharmaceuticals health care company, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved a new version of their anti-HIV medication, Norvir (ritonavir).

Norvir is a drug of the antiretroviral medication class known as protease inhibitors (PI). It is generally used as a “booster” drug to enhance the effects of other antiretroviral medications in order to prevent drug resistance in HIV-positive individuals.

The newly FDA approved formulation of Norvir is a heat-stable version, which means that the tablets do not require refrigeration to be…

A recent study finds Viread (tenofovir) and Emtriva (emtricitabine) are more effective nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) than Ziagen (abacavir) and Epivir (lamivudine) as an initial combination therapy for HIV. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A typical initial antiretroviral therapy regimen for HIV-positive patients who have not received therapy consists of two types of drugs: two NRTIs together with either a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or a protease inhibitor. Until now, it was unclear which two NRTIs are the most effective and safe.…

The use of antiretroviral medications has greatly increased the longevity of patients with HIV. However, liver failure, heart disease and neurological changes can often result from its use.

Patients taking protease inhibitors or nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors are at a higher risk of body fat redistribution and heart disease, according to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Body fat redistribution was evident in 20 to 35 percent of patients after one to two years on antiretroviral medication. Typically, fat accumulates in the mid-section or fat is…

Protease Inhibitors (PIs) are a class of medications used to prevent infections by viruses, including HIV.

When HIV infects a CD4 cell (helper T-cell), it copies its genetic information and inserts it into the DNA of the CD4, or host, cell. As a result, the infected cell makes copies of the virus’s DNA and proteins. Protease is an enzyme that cleaves long protein chains into smaller sections, which are later assembled to create a functional virus. PIs block this action so that HIV continues to replicate, but cannot mature and…