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Researchers at Aarhus University
Hospital in Denmark are conducting clinical trials with humans to test a “novel
strategy” as a cure for HIV. The technique includes unmasking reservoirs of
virus hiding in resting immune cells and bringing the virus to the surface of
the cells to be destroyed by the body’s natural immune system. In vitro studies
of the technique were so successful that the Danish Research Council provided
the funding for the clinical trials. According to Dr. Ole Søgaard, senior
researcher at the Aarhus University Hospital and a member of the research team,
early signs are promising.
The technique uses drugs called HDAC
inhibitors that are commonly used to treat cancer, to drive the HIV from the
patient’s DNA to the surface of infected cells. Søgaard is confident that they
will be successful in activating HIV from the reservoirs; he sees the challenge
as getting the patients’ immune system to recognize the virus and destroy it.
He noted that this depends on the strength and sensitivity of individual immune
systems and how large a proportion of the virus is exposed. Fifteen patients are
participating in the trial.
Five universities in Britain—Oxford;
Cambridge; Imperial College, London; University College, London; and King’s
College, London—have formed the Collaborative HIV Eradication of Reservoirs UK
Biomedical Research Centre group (CHERUB) with the goal of finding an HIV cure.
The group is researching the same technique as the researchers at Aarhus
Hospital, but the research has not advanced to the clinical trial stage. CHERUB
will combine the technique of releasing virus reservoirs with “immunotherapy”
to give patients’ bodies a greater chance of destroying the virus. Also, their
research is focusing on recently infected patients, as the researchers believe
this will improve chances of a cure.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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