nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), a class of antiretroviral drugs that mimic one or more of the components of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid and interrupt the viral replication process. The drugs (nucleoside analogs) work by being incorporated into the DNA made by the viral reverse transcriptase enzyme that is essential for viral replication. Inserting a nucleoside analog into the new viral DNA strand terminates the viral chain, halting the replication process before it is completed. Examples of nucleoside analogs include zidovudine (AZT), didanosine (ddI), zalcitabine (ddC), stavudine (d4T), and lamivudine (3TC). See also nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.
