Researchers from the University of California Davis may have found a compound that could help in "flushing out" HIV completely from a person's system.
Patients with HIV usually undergo highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) to manage their condition and many have benefited from this over the years. However, because HIV's mechanism includes an inactive virus, HAART cannot completely cure and remove the disease.
HAART treatments are also occasionally stopped because of possible long-term risks to toxic substances in medications. So when this happens, the latent virus that have not been detected by the treatments sometimes resurface.
For years, experts have been doing research on how flushing out HIV can serve as a better alternative for HAART. The process for this has been termed as "shock and kill." Finding the right mix of compounds for this, however, has proven to be a huge challenge, but the latest findings may finally bring answers.
"We are excited to have identified an outstanding candidate for HIV reactivation and eradication that is already approved and is being used in patients," said lead author Satya Dandekar of the university's Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, according to Medical Express. "This molecule has great potential to advance into translational and clinical studies."
The compound molecule, PEP005, is found in a cancer drug called PICATO, which has been approved by the FDA and is used by many patients already. The compound can work to target latent HIV in the body. What's more, it has only minor side effects and low toxicity, according to Mail Online.
Researchers further tested PEP005 with other compounds to determine any reaction and discovered another compound, JQ1, in the process. Together, these two compounds work more effectively in activating a latent virus, so that once detected, it could be eradicated from the body.
The research shows promise, but more tests are still required.
"First, we need to identify the best combination of latency-activating agents,' said Dandekar in the Mail Online. "Then we must help patients clear these reactivated cells. Just reactivating the HIV from latency won't be enough."
But discovering the effects of PEP005 and JQ1 as potent HIV-activators brings the world two steps closer to finding a cure for the disease.
The study was published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
