Abacavir

(CC) Image: David E. Volk
Abacavir, an antiviral drug, is a nucleotide analog.

Abacavir, abbreviated ABC, is a nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) used to treat HIV/AIDS. It becomes phosphorylated by cellular enzymes into an active metabolite, caravir triphosphate, which is an analog of deoxyguanosine-5'-triphosphate (dGTP). Caravir triphosphate gets incorporated into viral DNA where it acts as a chain terminator because it does not contain a 3'-hydroxy group needed to link with the next DNA base. It also inhibits HIV-1 transcriptase by binding to the enzyme so that the natural base, dGTP, cannot bind. Because the drugs' metabolism involves the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, use of alcohol with this drug should be avoided.

External Links

• Abacavir - FDA approved drug information (drug label) from DailyMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine).

• Drug Bank at http://www.drugbank.ca/cgi-bin/getCard.cgi?CARD=DB01048.txt