title: [Antiretroviral therapy: principles for treating HIV infection].
abstract: Antiretroviral therapy available in 2008 have shown their capacity to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but do not eradicate the virus. Treatment of HIV infection is the subject of French and international guidelines, updated regularly as a function of available data on efficacy and toxicity as well as of the arrival of new drugs. The objective of antiretroviral therapy is to reduce viral replication as much as possible, making it undetectable in plasma, that is, to obtain a plasma viral load less than the detection threshold, generally < 50 copies/mL. Reasons that current therapy may not be effective include principally adhesion difficulties, toxicity, and the possibility of the emergence of resistant viruses. It is thus essential to continue developing new drugs and assessing new strategies for their use.
authors.affiliation: CIC de vaccinologie Cochin Pasteur, Pôle de médecine, AP-HP, Groupe hospitalier Cochin Saint-Vincent de Paul, F-75014 Paris, France. odile.launay@cch.aphp.fr
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Launay
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents