The first revelation of HIV belonging to retroviruses with its genetic material
stored as RNA indicated its need for reverse transcription as one of the steps in its
lifecycle. This opened the way to the therapeutic battle against the virus. Reverse
transcriptase inhibitors are the oldest antiretroviral agents inhibiting the formation of
viral DNA from RNA. Some of these agents work as analogues of the naturally
occurring nucleoside and nucleotide bases required for DNA formation, hence their
insertion into a growing DNA chain leads to its termination. Another group does not
mimic natural DNA bases but rather bind to and disfigure the reverse transcriptase
enzyme. The former are referred to as nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase
Inhibitors (NRTI), while the later are non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
(NNRTI). These agents are used in combination with other antiretroviral agents, and
some of them have activity against hepatitis B which is a common HIV co-infection.
Keywords: Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors, RTI, NRTI, NNRTI, Antiretroviral
Drugs, HIV, ART, Tenofovir, Efavirenz, Emtricitabine, Etravirine, Rilpivirine,
Zidovudine.
