Advances in drug structure-activity-relationships for the development of selenium-based compounds against HIV.

Introduction: Selenium possesses numerous advantageous properties in the field of medicine, and a variety of selenium-containing compounds have been documented to exhibit anti-HIV activity. This paper aims to categorize these compounds and conduct SAR analysis to offer guidance for drug design and optimization.

Areas covered: The authors present a comprehensive review of the reported SAR analysis conducted on selenium-based compounds against HIV, accompanied by a concise discussion regarding the pivotal role of selenium in drug development.

Expert opinion: In addition to the conventional bioisosterism strategy, advanced strategies such as covalent inhibition, fragment-based growth and drug repositioning can also be incorporated into research on selenium-containing anti-HIV drugs. Ebselen, which acts as an HIV capsid inhibitor, serves as a valuable probe compound for the discovery of novel HIV integrase inhibitors. Furthermore, it is crucial not to underestimate the potential toxicity associated with organic selenium compounds despite no reported instances of severe toxicity.