Study: Natural molecule may be
promising new HIV drug
October 23, 1997
Web posted at: 7:28 p.m. EDT (2328 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Researchers have identified a natural molecule
that prevents HIV from infecting cells, a basic discovery they say
could lead eventually to powerful new types of AIDS drugs or even a
vaccine.
The molecule, discovered by a team led by famed AIDS researcher
Robert Gallo, works against HIV by physically blocking the portal
used by the virus to invade lymphocytes and other types of blood
cells.
Gallo's team at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of
Maryland, Baltimore, earlier identified three similar molecules, all
called chemokines. But the new molecule is much more effective
because it protects all the cell types attacked by HIV, Gallo said.
Flooding the body with these chemokines could create a barrier
between HIV and its target cells, and, thus, prevent the virus from
spreading its deadly infection, Gallo said.
But he emphasized that before chemokines can be tried against HIV
in humans, the molecules must be extensively tested in monkeys
against a related virus called SIV. Such testing could take several
years.
Discovery of the new chemokine comes just as doctors report that
some AIDS virus is developing a resistance to the three-drug
combination that has successfully suppressed HIV in thousands of
patients. That combination of reverse transcriptase and protease
inhibitors works against the virus inside the target cell.
The study by Gallo and his team will be published Friday in the
journal Science. |
