[The successes and problems in the treatment of HIV infection: a biochemist's view]

The problems of the effectiveness of the treatment of HIV-infected patients with 11 medicinal preparations and their combinations are discussed. 5 preparations (AZT, zalcitabine, videx, stavudine and lamivudine) are the nucleoside inhibitors of the synthesis of provirus DNA, catalyzed by inverse transcriptases; 2 preparations (nevirapine and rescriptor) are the inhibitors of this enzyme, having nonnucleoside nature, and 4 preparations (saquinarin, ritonavir, indinavir and nelfinavir) are the inhibitors of the processing of virus RNA, catalyzed by HIV protease. The modern concepts of the mechanism of action of the above-mentioned preparations are presented and the problem of the search of new effective medicinal preparations is discussed.