Experimental Treatment
Cloaking Ability of HIV Could Lead to New Treatment
10 years ago
by ADMIN
in Experimental Treatment
Since the discovery of HIV, just how the virus managed to replicate undetected by the body was somewhat of a mystery—until now. Researchers have recently discovered a mechanism used to protect the whereabouts of the virus and which allows it to multiply undisturbed. How did this come about, and what does it mean for the future of HIV? Here is a brief look at what was uncovered.
A team of scientists has recently identified two molecules that aid HIV by allowing the virus to hide within the host cell. By isolating these molecules, researchers have learned that the virus remains hidden, as it were, from the immune system by using a cloaking ability. Under normal circumstances, when a virus invades a cell, the immune system is tripped and an anti-virus attack ensues. Until recently it was unknown exactly how HIV could sneak past this trigger. With the use of these molecules, HIV disguises itself within a healthy cell. While remaining undetected by the immune system, it begins to multiple and mutate. This has made it both difficult to target and treat. Now, researchers are hopeful that this new information can help bring about a new way to effectively treat and contain the infection.
There are many benefits to this new light. Allowing the body to identify and attack the HIV on its own could be groundbreaking. Also, current treatments can be made more effective. Mutations and resistance to drug therapies may also be reduced. Disabling the cloaking device may make it easier to target the infection before it spreads and could be useful in developing vaccines. Armed with this important information, scientists are now able to push ahead in a positive direction to reducing the devastating effects of HIV.
HIV-Infected Cells Don’t Stand a Chance with New Drug
10 years ago
by ADMIN
in Experimental Treatment
Healthy cells are programmed to self-destruct, in a sense, when they become infected or diseased. Unfortunately HIV manipulates this internal self-destruct mode in the cells it infiltrates. A new pharmaceutical drug, Ciclopirox, shows promise in the advancement of HIV treatment.
This anti-fungal topical treatment came up with effective and hopeful results in recent studies. In HIV-infected cells, the drug attacks the mitochondria. By doing this, it inflicts a death blow to the infected cell, wiping out every trace of the HIV. In effect, it reactivates the cell’s self-destruct mode. Not only that, it prevents the HIV from replicating itself. In these two ways, this generally topical treatment proves very effective when dealing with HIV. Normally, Ciclopirox is administered to patients for treatment of skin and gynecological issues. However, in this new study, when used in a culture, HIV was cleared and did not reemerge once the drug was removed.
This is significant, since current forms of HIV treatment include combination drug therapies that inhibit HIV. While these therapies and treatments can help control HIV, they cannot eradicate the virus. If a patient should stop their treatment, HIV comes back at an astounding rate. With Ciclopirox, it is hoped that a means of prevention and perhaps a cure may finally be on the horizon.
Ciclopirox is already an FDA-approved drug. This means the process for using the cream in prevention of sexually transmitting HIV can be expedited. Other testing is already underway in hopes of further findings. The treatment is well tolerated, as healthy cells are unaffected by the drug.
Another promising treatment option is the drug Deferiprone, which is also showing promising results in the lab. Unlike the topical Ciclopirox, this drug can be taken internally, and as previous studies have already been published, it is hoped that this treatment, too, can become an option in the near future.
New Protein Could Be Breakthrough in HIV Prevention
10 years ago
The race to eradicate HIV and improve the vaccine has led to an exciting new development. Researchers within the last few weeks have published new findings regarding a protein and sugar molecule that has the potential to not only neutralize HIV, but that can connect to various strains of the virus as well.
The protein that was created mimics the outer layer of the HIV. The part of the layer that can bind to antibodies is the area researchers were targeting. This key part of the cell is where neutralizing the virus takes place. One of the factors that make the creation of this protein so important is that it may help scientists answer some of the most complex issues facing the prevention of HIV. For one thing, an antibody that can target multiple strains of the virus is hard to come by. Another problem is the response of the immune system: At times it is beneficial, but other responses can be negative and unwanted. Researchers are hoping that, with this protein, the immune system will be free to respond in a positive, beneficial way. The protein with the sugar molecule is better able to bond to the outer coat of the virus. It is hoped that broad-spectrum antibodies will be allowed to form. If this happens, the antibodies that can do the most neutralizing will have a better chance to complete their task.
Another benefit to the proteins is the potential to trigger a response from the white blood cells that produce antibodies. Should the antibodies produced by these B cells do what researchers are hoping, results could be disastrous for the virus. This aspect is what scientists are focusing on to develop an effective vaccine. Much more information is needed, as well as testing on animal subjects. This does not, however, negate the importance that this finding will have on the future of the battle against HIV.
New Antivirals Show Promise
10 years ago
Researchers have pored over thousands of compounds to discover two that show great potential in providing antiviral properties. Study at the atomic level has revealed that they are able to fight a particular enzyme that is the key to eliminating viruses.
This rational approach to designing drugs for medicinal use may see more action due to the possible success of this research. More than 100,000 compounds were observed in an atomic manner, running through the national database of compounds to see which have the right properties for this particular application.
There is a tremendous need for antivirals today. Everything from HIV to the common cold will be affected by finding the right antiviral compounds to produce the next generation of medications. Antivirals can be used to prevent pneumonia or AIDS from cutting a life short prematurely, putting them at the top of the medical research industry’s to-do list.
There are over 50 different strains that cause adenoviruses; therefore it is difficult to find a single compound that is effective against all of them. Rather than being able to develop something preventative, it seems more viable to create drugs that can prevent the spread of diseases within the body. This has already been the approach with HIV up to this point.
Researchers were able to look into many compounds by creating a computation to check the proteins in each compound. This helps determine if the compound can perform certain tasks necessary for an antiviral. Of the 30 compounds that the calculations set aside, only two had the desired effect in lab tests. Still, finding these two compounds is a very promising discovery.
The current roadblock is the size of the two molecules. They are both too big to be used in developing drugs. The next step for researchers is to make things more compact so that they can get to work on drug development.
Is Treating a Mother for HIV With a Child in the Womb Safe?
10 years ago
A recent study addressed concerns on the effect that an expectant mother’s HIV treatment may have on her unborn baby. In particular, the study focused on language development. What was the result? By age two, children who had been born to mothers treated for HIV during pregnancy showed no additional delay in learning to speak.
This was an important study to relieve the concerns of many in the medical field. It had been believed that treating pregnant women for HIV would result in the baby’s lessened brain development.
All of the children who were part of the study were exposed to HIV during the pregnancy. While some mothers received a cocktail of drugs to treat the condition; others did not. The results for language development in the resulting children were just about equal. On both sides, about 1 in 4 experienced development difficulties. This shows that it was not the medication’s fault that children born to HIV-infected were having this language problem.
While previous studies suggested that the antiretroviral drugs may cause these delays, this study has clearly debunked that previous concern. One drug in particular is still being monitored, however. While children born of mothers on this particular drug were on equal footing with their peers by age two, they were behind at age one and had to catch up. More research is necessary to discover the reason for this. The drug’s name is Atazanavir.
Almost 800 children were a part of this comprehensive study, so these findings clearly overturn those of previous smaller studies. On the other hand, now research must continue to try and explain why about 25% of children exposed to HIV in the womb end up experiencing some kind of early on language problem.
