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New integrase inhibitor shows promise in fight against HIV
According to a study published today in Science, researchers have developed a drug that uses a new approach in fighting HIV. The compound blocks an enzyme called integrase that HIV uses to make copies of itself by splicing its genes into a cell's DNA. The drug could bring new hope in the battle against drug-resistant HIV strains.
The announcement caps more than a decade of research into integrase, one of three enzymes that helps the AIDS virus multiply. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Two other enzymes, protease and transcriptase, long ago gave up their secrets to drug researchers, and drugs that block them are the foundation for current AIDS treatments. Integrase inhibitor research, however, was filled with dead ends and failures mainly because the enzyme wasn't well understood" ("New AIDS Drug Reduces Virus In Monkeys" - July 9, 2004).
Once the integrase inhibitors are ready for human trials, they would be used in combination with other oral drugs as part of the cocktail treatments given to HIV patients.
Despite advances in anti-HIV drugs and rising AIDS awareness, more than five million people last year were infected with HIV -- the largest number in any single year since the epidemic began in the early 1980s. United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS recently released statistics showing that AIDS killed 2.9 million people in 2003 and another 37.8 million are currently infected with HIV, up from 34.9 million in 2001. UNAIDS also estimates that of the world's 15 million AIDS orphans, more than 80% live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Further reading:
New type of AIDS drug offers hope
Drug offers new way to fight HIV
Scientists Make Progress in Developing New Type of AIDS Drug
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