What is a CCR5 inhibitor?

Answer 1

CCR5 inhibitors are a new class of antiretroviral drug used in the treatment of HIV. They are designed to prevent HIV infection of CD4 T-cells by blocking the CCR5 receptor. When the CCR5 receptor is unavailable, 'R5-tropic' HIV (the variant of the virus that is common in earlier HIV infection) cannot engage with a CD4 T-cell to infect the cell. Maraviroc, the first drug from this class to be marketed (as Selzentry in the US, Celsentri in Europe), was licensed in the summer of 2007. Drugs in this class exploit the knowledge gained when trying to understand why a small minority of people of northern European descent had a degree of naturally occurring immunity against HIV. It was discovered that a harmless genetic mutation meant that their CCR5 receptors were blocked (which some have speculated must have developed as a defence against the plague epidemics) thus denying HIV of its usual means of gaining a foothold.