New nucleoside/nucleotide backbone options: a review of recent studies

The nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI/NtRTI) class continues to serve as an important component of the standard of care for HIV infection. Combinations of dual NRTIs/NtRTIs with protease inhibitors (PIs) or nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) remain the most commonly used regimens in clinical practice. In recent years, clinical outcomes data on previously novel NRTI/NtRTI backbone combinations have provided clinicians with new options to address potency, tolerability, and convenience of antiretroviral therapy. However, the tolerability, drug-drug interactions, and resistance profiles of specific regimens using new NRTI/NtRTI combinations must be weighed against the needs and preferences of individual patients. This review summarizes recent efficacy and safety data on emerging NRTI/NtRTI combination backbones, including tenofovir DF (TDF) with lamivudine (3TC), abacavir with 3TC, didanosine (ddI) with 3TC, ddI with emtricitabine (FTC), and TDF with FTC.