Developmental therapeutics and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) die of overwhelming infections as a consequence of the destruction of the T4 subset of lymphocytes. Approaches to the treatment of AIDS have involved attempts to reestablish immune competence as well as treat opportunistic infections. The discovery of the human T-lymphotropic virus type III, which causes AIDS, has provided a specific target for screening antiviral drugs. There are many potential screening targets, from surface-binding proteins to viral integration and assembly, but most of the recent efforts have been aimed at developing drugs to inhibit the unique viral DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase). The early studies with 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) have provided encouraging results.