THERAPEUTIC ALTERNATIVES AGAINST HIV/AIDS FROM A BIOTECHNOLOGICAL APPROACH

The use of drugs that delay the emergence of genotypic variants has been used in treatments against HIV, but this use can lead to the virus becoming resistant to drugs. The development of biotechnological research on the HIV/AIDS virus has enabled the creation of diagnoses and therapeutic alternatives through genetic manipulation and production of biopharmaceuticals, providing better living conditions for people living with HIV and AIDS. Therefore, the objective is to describe the development of therapeutic alternatives against HIV/AIDS, using a biotechnological approach. This is a bibliographical research, with a qualitative and analytical-descriptive approach. Based on articles from the Scielo, Lilacs and Google Scholar databases, through the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS): “Pharmaceutical biotechnology”, “Therapeutics” and “Biotechnology for HIV/AIDS”. Works in Portuguese or English published between 2016 and 1017 were selected. In one study, modified soybeans were used to produce cyanovirin, a protein effective in combating AIDS. In another study, transgenic rice was chosen, altered through bioballistics to alter the DNA and generate an antiviral antibody. Furthermore, biotechnological approaches use plants to reduce costs and produce on a large scale, thus avoiding contamination. It was found that there are studies in the search for therapeutic alternatives combined with biotechnology in the development of new compounds and pharmacological methods for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, with a promising scenario both during treatment and prophylaxis of this disease. In this sense, biopharmaceuticals promote better therapeutic alternatives compared to traditional medicines, by developing more specific and effective bioproducts, and thus optimized based on the specificity of each individual, minimizing the side effects of antiretrovirals.