Chemotherapeutic agents for human immunodeficiency virus infection: mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and adverse reactions.

Since the mid-1980s, four new nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (zalcitabine, didanosine, stavudine, and lamivudine), two nonnucleoside RT inhibitors (nevirapine and delavirdine), and four new protease inhibitors (saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, and nelfinavir) have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The driving force behind the development of these new agents has been the increasing need for more potent agents with reduced or modified toxicity profiles. The purpose of this article is to review the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicities, adverse reactions, and mechanism of action of the currently available drugs.