What can be
done about HIV eradication? The advancements in scientific technology and
medical treatments have made significant progress in managing HIV and making it
a chronic condition in most patients; however, the next logical step toward a
cure has been elusive. Researchers have been working hard for the past few
years on closing the gap between manageable disease and functional cure, and
several different approaches have been explored or are currently being
discussed. While antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been effective against HIV
virus out in the open bloodstream, there are pockets of HIV that lie dormant in
cells until antiretroviral therapy ceases, which allow them to become active
again. These pockets are called HIV reservoirs. The approaches to HIV
eradication focus mainly on how to deal with these reservoirs.
Let's talk about some of the discussed approaches; seven of them to be exact.
On one approach, ART is started before HIV has a chance to establish
reservoirs. This normally takes place when a person is just infected with HIV
(acute HIV infection), very early in the process. The hope is to stop viruses
before reservoirs can be established. In another approach, ART is intensified
greatly in order to stop completely HIV replication. An alternate strategy is
to activate dormant T-cells so the remaining HIV reservoirs can be flushed out and
eliminated.
There are also strategies that deal with preventing the virus from infecting
additional cells directly. If the HIV reservoirs can't be eliminated, one
approach involves keeping the reservoirs dormant forever, keeping the HIV from
ever replicating again. This means finding ways to disable the virus's ability
to replicate. Alternatively, a sixth strategy protects the uninfected cells
from ever being infected. The seventh discussed approach attempts to strengthen
the body's natural immune system when exposed to HIV, very much like how a
vaccine works.
The various approaches to HIV eradication all address a problem, and that
problem is the HIV reservoir. HIV reservoirs have been called the last hiding
place for HIV within the body. The final step toward finding a functional cure
for HIV lies in dealing with HIV reservoirs. The dormant viruses hiding in
these places make it very easy for a person's viral load to increase
dramatically if ART is stopped even for a short time. Therefore, in conjunction
with ART, one of the known possible approaches for HIV eradication—or possibly
approaches that haven't been thought of yet—will become increasingly important
to develop and implement.
Contact:
Alain Lafeuillade
AVPS
1208 Av. Cl Picot
Toulon, 83000
France
33494616340
