Question

Which medication mechanism describes the action of delavirdine in a client with HIV?

A) Protease inhibitor
B) Reverse transcriptase inhibitor
C) Fusion inhibitor
D) Integrase inhibitor

Answer 1

Delavirdine is a reverse transcriptase inhibitor that blocks the HIV replication cycle by directly inhibiting the reverse transcriptase enzyme.

Step-by-step explanation:

The medication mechanism that describes the action of delavirdine in a client with HIV is B) Reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Delavirdine is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), which functions by binding to the enzyme reverse transcriptase. This binding inhibits the enzyme's activity, preventing the conversion of the virus's RNA into DNA, a crucial step in the HIV replication cycle. Unlike nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), which mimic the natural nucleosides and get incorporated into the growing DNA chain, delavirdine binds directly to reverse transcriptase, causing a direct inactivation of the enzyme without requiring incorporation into DNA.