A cheap drug, enfurvitide, has shown promise in stamping out hidden pockets of HIV in three people who have long been infected with the virus.

The result is described by the US scientists as merely a “proof of concept”, but has inevitably sparked talk of a cure for AIDS.

HIV can already be kept in check by treatment with a powerful cocktail of drugs known as highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). But the virus persists in a latent state in infected people.

It is hoped that the new approach, developed by David Margolis and colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US, will finish off the virus in its latent hiding places.

Four patients who had been on long-term HAART treatment were given a drug called enfurvitide twice daily for 4 to 6 weeks to intensify the effect of the HAART drugs. They were then given valproic acid, a drug which is usually used to treat epilepsy, twice daily for 3 months.

Valproic acid inhibits an enzyme called histone deacetylase, which is known to help HIV linger in its dormant, hidden state. In 3 of the 4 patients, levels of latent HIV fell by 75%.

“Our findings suggest that eradication of established HIV infection may be achieved in a staged approach,” says Margolis. “This finding, though not definitive, suggests that new approaches will allow the cure of HIV in the future.”

Jean-Pierre Routy at McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada, says that while the research is preliminary, the results merit urgent further study: “This is the first glimpse of a new therapeutic approach that might represent a possible step towards making HIV-infection no longer a chronic disease.”

Source: New Scientist