ANTIRETROVIRAL TOXICITY AND OXIDATIVE STRESS

Antiretroviral drugs are used for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus, they are used as combination regimens to achieve the highest possibl e benefit, tolerability, compliance and to diminish the risk of resistance development. Reports from precli nical and clinical studies have linked antiretrovir als with some toxicological effects which could be associate d with redox imbalance (oxidative stress). This stimulated us to review relevant literature on the relationship between antiretroviral induced toxicol ogical effects and redox imbalance. Available literature o n antiretroviral associated toxicological effects a nd oxidative stress were comprehensively reviewed. Lit erature showed that antiretrovirals are associated with toxicological effects which includes hepatotox icity, cardiotoxicity, hematotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Reports in animal studies also show ed that these toxicological effects could be associated with oxidative stress through the genera tion of oxidative radicals, depletion of antioxidan ts and antioxidant enzymes leading to mitochondria damage in the heart, kidney, liver brain and other organs. In humans, studies also showed that antiret rovirals are associated with lipid peroxidation, depletion of antoxidants and antioxidant enzymes wh ich are elements of oxidative stress. Furthermore it was observed that supplementations with some ant ioxidants mitigated antiretroviral induced oxidative stress, mitochondria damage and toxicolog ical effects. Antiretroviral drugs are associated with toxicological effects which may involve redox imbalance, but more studies are required to correlate antiretroviral toxicities with oxidative stress.