HIV can be flushed out of its hiding places in
the body using a cancer drug, researchers
show.


The cornerstone of treatment, anti-retroviral
therapy, kills the virus in the bloodstream but
leaves "HIV reservoirs" untouched.


The study, published in PLoS Pathogens,
showed the drug was "highly potent" at
reactivating hidden HIV.
Experts said the findings were interesting, but it
was important to know if the drug was safe in
patients.


The power of the HIV reservoir was shown with
the case of the Mississippi baby .
She was given antiretroviral drugs at birth.
Despite appearing to be free of HIV for nearly
two years after stopping treatment, she was
found to be harbouring the virus.

'Kick and kill'


A strategy known as "kick and kill" is thought
to be key to curing HIV - the kick would wake
up the dormant HIV allowing the drugs to kill it.
The team at the UC Davis School of Medicine
investigated PEP005 - one of the ingredients in
a treatment to prevent cancer in sun-damaged
skin.


They tested the drug in cells grown in the
laboratory and in parts of the immune system
taken from 13 people with HIV.

The report said "PEP005 is highly potent in
reactivating latent HIV" and that the chemical
represents "a new group of lead compounds for
combating HIV".

One of the researchers, Dr Satya Dandekar,
said: "We are excited to have identified an
outstanding candidate for HIV reactivation and
eradication that is already approved and is
being used in patients.
"This molecule has great potential to advance
into translational and clinical studies."


However, the drug has still not been tested in
people who are HIV-positive.
Prof Sharon Lewin, from the University of
Melbourne, said the results were "interesting"
and marked an "important advance in finding
new compounds that can activate latent HIV".


She said: "This study adds another
family of drugs to test to potentially eliminate
long-lived forms of HIV although much more
work needs to be done to see if this works in
patients.


"Although PEP005 is part of an FDA approved
drug, it will first take some time to work out if it
is safe to use in the setting of HIV."

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source ; http://anitsdavid..com/2015/07/health-hiv-flushed-out-by-cancer-drug.html

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So this on channels when I got back fro work, I was excited the first minute and the next I got angry cos Nigeria is yet to make any discovery in science, the government dnt build research centres even in the universities, nothing is really happening in this country