Potential HIV treatment one step closer to human trials: Ontario researchers

New international study led by Ontario researchers suggests a possible cure HIV. Researchers say the drug could potentially treat millions of people around the world if it passes human clinical trials.

About 95 percent of people with HIV are chronically infected with HIV, said master's student Ryan Ho. western university Co-lead authors from the London, Ont., researchers said it can be defined as a condition in which the virus has gone untreated for about a year. Ultimately, this causes a slow destruction of the patient's immune system and can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Thirty-nine million people worldwide are infected with HIV, and 30 million of them are on multiple drug treatments. These treatments have side effects and problems, primarily that they require lifelong treatment.

“They have trace amounts of HIV in their bodies, and when they take their medication off, the virus can rebound,” says Eric Ertz, professor at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and Canada Research Chair. “The goal in the HIV research field has been for years to find something that tickles the last few cells infected with HIV to release the virus and kill the virus.”

The new study, led by the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, showed their treatment's ability to drive out the last remnants of HIV in blood samples of people infected with the virus.

“We took a blood sample and applied HIV virus-like particles, or HLP for short,” Ho said. “Another thing we're looking for is whether we can apply HLP to immune cells and then detect the HIV virus released from these immune cells by measuring the DNA output. I was able to show it.”

The first indication that this is an effective treatment was previous success in blood samples from people treated early in the infection, but of the 30 million people currently being treated, Less than 1% started treatment within three months of infection.

The researchers then recruited about 50 chronically infected people with HIV who were taking current standard treatments for long periods of time and took blood samples. Researchers say his HLP treatment is used on blood samples in a very similar way to injections into patients and is a highly effective way to expel and kill any remaining viruses in the blood. I discovered.

“This is very targeted and we found it to be about 100 times more effective than anything tested before,” Aerts says. “There was no longer a virus that could cause problems in the future.”

The next step is to make sure the treatment is safe enough to proceed to human clinical trials.

Dr. Ho said one of the most immediate results of this research is the ability to reawaken latent HIV in immune cells in people who have been compliant with other treatments for years. .

“It's an encouraging outcome that we were able to obtain blood samples from people who, some of whom had been on continuous treatment for more than 10 years, still had the virus reawakening,” Ho said.

However, this study was not without limitations. Researchers were unable to test its effectiveness in patients with the C subtype of HIV, which is primarily found in continental Asia, parts of Europe, and the Middle East. However, subtype C makes up the largest proportion of circulating viruses.

“Targeting C. to ensure HLP efficacy will be truly representative of the world's existing infection situation,” Ho said. “Our project is an international collaboration, but primarily in Uganda, England, Cleveland, and around Maryland, Baltimore, and Toronto, Ontario. It's simply because we've collaborated with other professors and doctors. Thanks to you.”

Ho said this logistical limitation is just an access restriction that researchers plan to address in the future, as it can be fixed after various approval steps are completed.

“You can't just get human blood,” Ho said. “There are ethics, there are mandatory procedures, and consent forms have to be signed. But this (study) opens the door for that much more easily.”

For Ho, the precautionary approach on the other side of this project is just as important. Raising awareness, promoting awareness and preventing HIV infection by promoting safe sex and harm reduction is also a key focus to end the epidemic.

“One of the things I have been involved with in London is the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, which focuses on harm reduction kits,” Ho says. “People will use their substance, but we just hope they don't get seven different viruses by using that substance.”

David Cummings, community relations manager at Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, said the development was groundbreaking. Cummings praised the importance of research and said that if the trial is successful, the treatment could provide a cure for millions of people living with HIV.

“With today's treatments, people living with HIV can already live long, healthy lives,” Cummings says. “This progress represents another milestone in our collective response to HIV/AIDS.”

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