Tenofovir disoproxil

Tenofovir belongs to a class of antiretroviral drugs known as nucleotide analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NtRTIs), which block reverse transcriptase, an enzyme necessary for viral production in HIV-infected individuals. This enables the management of HIV viral load through decreased viral replication.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate is the fumarate salt of the prodrug tenofovir disoproxil. Tenofovir disoproxil is absorbed and converted to its active form, tenofovir, a nucleoside monophosphate (nucleotide) analog. Tenofovir is then converted to the active metabolite, tenofovir diphosphate, a chain terminator, by constitutively expressed enzymes in the cell. Tenofovir diphosphate inhibits HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and the Hepatitis B polymerase by direct binding competition with the natural deoxyribonucleotide substrate (deoxyadenosine 5’-triphosphate) and, after integration into DNA, causes viral DNA chain termination.

A note on resistance

HIV-1 isolates with decreased susceptibility to tenofovir have been identified in cell culture studies. These viruses expressed a K65R substitution in reverse transcriptase and showed a 2– 4 fold decrease in susceptibility to treatment with tenofovir.