Mode Of Action Of Antiviral Drugs

Antiviral drugs are those medications available or developed to either cure or control viral infections. They are different from anti-bacterial drugs or antibodies. They act in different ways depending on the type of infection or virus.

An antiviral drug will try to inhibit the virus at various stages of the life cycle of the infection of virus.

The before cell entry stage is when the anti-viral will strategize to interfere with the ability of the virus to enter a target cell by binding with the receptor molecule that is present in the surface of the host cell. Or it can bind itself to the proteins of the virus and thus try to destroy it. This is somewhat a slow process. The anti-viral sometimes also stops the virus from releasing its proteins and avoid uncoating.

The next stage of the life-cycle that the antiviral drugs can attack is the viral synthesis. In such a stage, the antiviral drug will try to avoid the replication of the virus and inhibit it or interfere in the replication process, thereby controlling the spread of the virus and the infection. It would inhibit the processes of reverse transcription, integrate, transcription, translation / antisense, translation / ribozymes, protease inhibitors, or the release phase where the new virus comes out of the cell.

The last way an antiviral drug can attack the infection can be by strengthening the immune system of the body by stimulating the production of antibodies that form the defense mechanism of the body against the virus.

More Articles :

Mode Of Action Of Antiviral Drugs