New Method For HIV Treatment Has Been Found By French Researchers

Scientists have found out the way that HIV virus damages a human’s cell, raising hope to eliminate the HIV virus from the body without affecting others, as well as discover a new HIV treatment.

This new discovery is conducted by a biologist team from Institut Pasteur in France in research for the disease of the century, HIV/AIDS. They chose cells with hidden HIV virus against antiretroviral medicines to eliminate.

The achievement in killing these HIV-infected cells creates an opportunity to have new medicines and therapies for patients with HIV.

Patients can be infected HIV virus again if they do not continue to follow anti-AIDS treatment because T cells still have hidden HIV virus. This research in France released in the latest Cell Metabolism gave an explanation that T cells with stronger chemical processes required for life are regularly infected by HIV virus.

Notably, according to the scientists, the more these cells are infected by the HIV virus, the more nutrients they consume. With the new discovery to prevent these cells from nutrients’ consumption, the scientists have opportunities to eliminate infected cells and not to damage to others.

In particular, molecules are used to prevent these cells from metabolic processes of fatty acids, glucose, and glutamine; thereby, the shelters for HIV virus in T cells will be disappeared.

One research coordinator, Asier Saez-Cirion, said that they had watched things existing outside the living body and concluded that because these molecules block the metabolic processes, HIV virus could not spread to other cells; thereby preventing the virus infection in patients during treatment for HIV.

The team hopes the new method could open the door to various kinds of effective HIV treatment. So far, infected patients have had to follow the anti-HIV therapies all their life, but cannot completely cure this disease. These therapies only can prevent HIV virus to spread to other parts of the body.

To prove the potential of this method, Saez-Cirion gave more detailed information about the research.

HIV attacks T cells to hijack the body's immune system

When being interviewed by Labiotech, he revealed that two molecules of glutamine and glucose are promising in blocking HIV infection in cells. They are having an examination on various kinds of molecules in their lab to recognize which mixtures offer the best results and which strategy is the best in the application of molecules in the living body.

The HIV treatment today requires patients to take 1-3 pills daily in a proper way to avoid drug resistance.

Currently, HIV antiretroviral medicines are classified into 5 main groups as follows:

(1) Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs or non-nukes)

(2) Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs or nukes)

(3) Protease Inhibitors (PIs)

(4) Entry Inhibitors

(5) Integrase Inhibitors

This research from France is expected to re-classify these medicines and adjust their operations someday.