AIDS Treatment: Cabenuva

While there are no cures available for HIV or AIDS, there are many treatments and interventions that make living with the virus manageable and allow one to live their regular life. One such treatment is Cabenuva which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2021.

Cabenuva is taken via an injection once a month. It consists of two HIV drugs: cabotegravir and rilpivirine. Cabotegravir is a HIV integrase inhibitor. Integrase is an enzyme that assists viral nucleic acids in entering the nucleic acids of the host cells which is essential in the process of viral replication as the viral particles use the host cell machinery to replicate. By inhibiting HIV integrase, cabotegravir halts HIV reproduction, reducing the quantity of HIV particles in the bloodstream. This reduction in quantity does not get rid of HIV but rather reduces the likelihood that it will develop into AIDS.

On the other hand, rilpivirine is a NNRTI, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. While that may seem like a mouthful, it simply means that rilpivirine stops the activity of reverse transcriptase which is the enzyme that translates the HIV RNA into DNA. Rilpivirine specifically targets the reverse transcriptase involved in HIV.

Putting these two drugs together, HIV is not cured but largely neutralized. The HIV is unable to replicate to go to other cells, and in the cells it has already invaded, it is unable to convert its RNA to DNA which is the first step in producing its accompanying proteins.

Studies have found that approximately 48 weeks of using Cabenuva results in HIV being suppressed. What is important to note and reiterate is that the goal of treatments and interventions related to HIV is not to eliminate HIV but to prevent HIV becoming AIDS.

There are still many side effects associated with Cabenuva. Some side effects include: fever, tiredness, headache, and pain.