Pharmacological aspects of prophylaxis pre-exposure (prep) to HIV: a review

This article is a narrative review of the literature which aims to describe the main pharmacological aspects of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to HIV. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an infection that has affected people all over the world. However, this number has decreased in recent decades, this is due to the demand for information leading to prevention and adherence to the use of PrEP PrEP is characterized as a prevention strategy that includes the daily and continuous use of antiretroviral drugs, studies show the effectiveness of the combined use of two daily antiretroviral drugs, tenofovir (TDF) and emtricitabine, commercially known as truvada. However, it is extremely important to know and discuss the pharmacological aspects of the drug, and this involves its pharmacokinetics, which in turn includes the mechanisms of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of the drug, as well as other important parameters such as the half-life and elimination time of the drug, and its possible drug interactions, adverse reactions, and its mechanism of action, which is associated with the pharmacodynamic aspects of the drug.