Nevirapine for the treatment of HIV/AIDS

Nevirapine is an anti-HIV (antiretroviral) medication that is part of the NNRTIs or Non-Nukes. Or in other words, we can say that it is a drug of a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor family. This antiretroviral is recommended to use together with the other antiretrovirals in order to delay or resist the progression of HIV infection. This medication has the potential to boost your immune system (increase in CD4 + count) and you will become capable enough to protect against the infections. 

Nevirapine does not cure AIDS or completely kill the HIV virus, but helps to prevent further damage by slowing down the production of new viruses. Treatment with this antiretroviral does not reduce the risk of passing the infection from one person to another. HIV still may pass by blood transfer or by sharing needles or by sexual contact. You must use appropriate and precise precautions in order to prevent passing HIV from one person to another.

Side Effects of Nevirapine:

The most common adverse effect of nevirapine tablets include:

• Headache
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Somnolence 
• Fatigue
• Hypersensitivity
• Mild or Moderate Rash
• Stevens–Johnson syndrome
• Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis
• Severe or Life-threatening Skin Reactions

The most common adverse effect of nevirapine is a mild rash. Tell your healthcare provider immediately if you experience a rash while on with nevirapine.
There is a greater risk of developing liver injury in females. 

In some cases, the injury has gone on to cause death. The greatest risk of liver damage occurs in the first 6 weeks of taking nevirapine. 

If you feel rash during an initial couple of weeks of the treatment, increasing your dose should be avoided to twice daily until you get the consent of your healthcare provider. 
If you develop symptoms such as fever, blistering, mouth sores, red eyes, swelling of the face, muscle or joint aches, and a general feeling of being unwell, stop taking nevirapine 200mg. Speak with your doctor immediately.

How Should I Take Nevirapine:

Generally, the dose is Nevirapine 200 mg (1 tablet) once daily for 14 days. The dose is then increased to 200 mg (1 tablet) twice daily. A smaller dose is used during the first 14 days in order to decrease the risk of developing a rash.
Nevirapine can be taken with or without food. Nevirapine tablets should be gulped wholly unchewed with the water.

How Does Nevirapine Work:

Nevirapine is a non-nucleoside RT inhibitor with high potency anti-HIV-I activity. In combination with other antiretroviral agents, nevirapine affords rapid and sustained immunological and virological responses. Consequently, according to the study of several anti-HIV agent combinations, the emergent central tenet of decreasing the viral burden, which should be more likely to be considered quite readily with the combination of regimens instead of monotherapy. The development of resistance can be circumvented by, among other measures, judicious use of drug combinations that mutually suppress viral mutations or, as is evident in vitro with nevirapine, with the help of tolerability permitting from the outset to prevent the breakthrough of the resistant or nonresistant virus. Triple therapy with zidovudine,  didanosine, and nevirapine appears to suppress viral replication sufficiently to either prevent or delay the emergence of resistant virus in treatment-naive patients,  provided that strict compliance with therapy is maintained. As with other non-nucleoside RT inhibitors, nevirapine rapidly selects for the resistant virus, but it appears to be generally well-tolerated. In addition, nevirapine has a favorable pharmacokinetic profile which should facilitate patient compliance.

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