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Concept
Zidovudine
Summary
Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child spread during birth or after a needlestick injury or other potential exposure. It is sold both by itself and together as lamivudine/zidovudine and abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine. It can be used by mouth or by slow injection into a vein.
Common side effects include headaches, fever, and nausea. Serious side effects include liver problems, muscle damage, and high blood lactate levels. It is commonly used in pregnancy and appears to be safe for the fetus. ZDV is of the nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) class. It works by inhibiting the enzyme reverse transcriptase that HIV uses to make DNA and therefore decreases replication of the virus.
Zidovudine was first described in 1964. It was approved in the United States in 1987 and was the first treatment for HIV. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication.
AZT was usually dosed twice a day in combination with other antiretroviral therapies. This approach is referred to as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) and is used to prevent the likelihood of HIV resistance. As of 2019, the standard is a three-drug once-daily oral treatment that can include AZT.
AZT has been used for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in combination with another antiretroviral drug called lamivudine. Together they work to substantially reduce the risk of HIV infection following the first single exposure to the virus. More recently, AZT has been replaced by other antiretrovirals such as tenofovir to provide PEP.
Before tenofovir, a principal part of the clinical pathway for both pre-exposure prophylaxis and post-exposure treatment of mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy, labor, and delivery and has been proven to be integral to uninfected siblings' perinatal and neonatal development.
Official source
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