Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Antiretroviral Drugs

The interest in the pharmacokinetics of antiretroviral drugs has gained considerable interest during the last years. It has been shown that the pharmacokinetics of a drug can be an important determinant of antiviral efficacy or toxicity, especially for the protease inhibitors, but also for the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. For the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, such relationships are less clear. This manuscript deals with the basic pharmacokinetic properties of the currently available antiretroviral drugs. Furthermore, several drug-drug interactions are discussed, and the penetration of drugs in several compartments of the body, such as the brain, are highlighted.