The opportunities and challenges of Chinese medicine and pharmacy in intervening HIV drug resistance / 中国中西医结合杂志

ABSTRACT

AIDS is a serious threat to the human health. Although highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) has obviously prohibited the progress of AIDS, a yearly increasing problems of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug resistance have arousing more attention, affecting the clinical efficacy of HAART, and even resulting in treatment failure. We are lack of exchangeable medicines, while the therapeutic course of AIDS treatment is longer. It is not feasible to monitor and detect the drug resistance of medicine takers by taking the exchangeable medicines as the outcome. Better indications have been obtained by combining the experiences for Chinese medicine and pharmacy (CMP) intervention and CMP's intervening HIV drug resistance by clinical trails. Based on retrospective studies on the HIV biological features, reasons for HIV drug resistance, the occurrence, the predisposing population, and the mutation sites, the authors addressed it is a good opportunity for CMP in intervening HIV drug resistance at present situation in China. Meanwhile, the authors also raised too much difficulties and challenges. We hope CMP's intervention can minimize and delay the generation of drug resistance to the utmost, solve key problems in HIV/AIDS prevention and control in China.