DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have tested a new therapeutic approach that could help eliminate dormant HIV infection that treatments currently miss.
Highly-active anti-retroviral therapy, known as HAART, has improved the outcome for patients with HIV by targeting virus replication and restoring immune function.
However, HIV can still persist in a non-replicating state in some infected cells, preventing virus eradication. Scientists know that an enzyme called histone deacetylase 1 -- HDAC1 -- helps HIV persist in a latent phase of infection.
David Margolis, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tested the ability of valproic acid, an inhibitor of HDAC, to deplete HIV infection.
"Our findings suggest that eradication of established HIV infection might be achieved in a staged approach. Patients should perhaps first be treated with standard anti-retroviral regimens at an early stage of infection," said Margolis. "For those in whom viral replication is suppressed, latent viral infection could then be tackled with HDAC inhibitors, intensified therapy, or both -- although not definitive, the finding suggests that new approaches will allow the cure of HIV in the future."
The study is published in the Lancet.
