Microbial and enzymatic bioconversion of antiretroviral drugs: Mechanisms, degradation metabolites, and environmental implications

Antiretroviral drugs (ARVDs) have revolutionized the treatment and management of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), significantly improving patient outcomes and reducing viral transmission. However, the increasing global use of ARVDs has raised concerns regarding drug accumulation in the environment, the development of resistant viral strains, and the generation of expired or unused pharmaceuticals. Bioconversion, which involves using biological systems to modify chemical substances, provides a sustainable and novel strategy to tackle these challenges. This review highlights recent studies in the bioconversion of antiretroviral drugs, focusing on microbial and enzymatic systems capable of modifying or degrading ARVDs into less toxic, more bioavailable or repurposable forms. Moreover, the review discusses the implications of ARVD bioconversion for environmental detoxification, drug repurposing, and waste reduction in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Particular attention is given to metabolic pathways, enzyme specificity, and the role of genetically engineered microbes in enhancing ARVD bioconversion efficiency. Finally, the article outlines current limitations, knowledge gaps, and future prospects for integrating bioconversion into a circular pharmaceutical economy. Furthermore, the authors provide several suggestions regarding scalable biocatalytic pathways, improving the substrate specificity of microbial strains, and developing standardized regulatory frameworks to facilitate industrial adoption.