Non-Hepatic Adverse Effects of Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV Treatment and Care

Abstract

High-level viral replication occurs when HIV enters the body. Due to frequent mutations, the virus becomes resistant in the body and persists in memory T cells making it incurable. Lifelong therapy is then required to suppress replication of the virus in the cells. The drugs available for HIV care such as Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, Protease Inhibitors, Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, Entry and Fusion Inhibitors and Integrase inhibitors have been documented to cause adverse effects in patients. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 system, resulting to numerous drug-drug interactions. Adverse effects of antiretroviral therapy should be monitored frequently. Monitoring should include complete blood counts and comprehensive metabolic profiles every three to six months. Lipid profiles and urinalysis for proteinuria should be done after every year. Long-term morbidity due to antiretroviral therapy includes renal, liver, glucose, and lipid abnormalities, and bone disease as well as cardiovascular disease. With some exceptions for lipid management, these morbidities can be managed. This review aims at describing different non-hepatic adverse effects of antiretrovirals as well as factors associated with them