|  | Conditions Treatments | HIV AIDS

Possible Cure for AIDS

Researchers around the world, working with private and government support, are seeking to advance the treatment of HIV, which is the virus that can lead to AIDS. However, it is important to understand that such advances will happen slowly and that a cure for HIV is not a likely reality in the immediate future. Viruses are difficult to eradicate, and the hope of a vaccine may be the next large advance in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

  1. Advances in Treatment

    • The last few years have seen a proliferation of new drugs that halt HIV in different ways from their predecessors and which offer hope for people who have developed resistance to other antiretroviral drugs. These include fusion inhibitors, which prevent HIV from fusing with host cells; chemokine coreceptor antagonists, which bind to HIV's coreceptor on the target cell; and integrase inhibitors, which interrupt the function of integrase, the enzyme HIV uses to integrate its genetic information into that of the host cell. Although these medications offer improved treatment for many people, no antiretroviral drug can cure HIV.

    Vaccine Consortia

    • There are a number of organizations that have come together to promote work on finding an effective vaccine against HIV. These include HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. Both organizations foster international cooperation in funding research and the direct carrying out of this research. Although a vaccine could not cure HIV in people who were already infected, it could possibly halt new infections, an important advance in controlling the epidemic.

    Canadian Vaccine

    • It was reported in July 2009 that a team of researchers at the University of Western Ontario were submitting a vaccine for HIV to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval to test in humans. The vaccine is known as SAV001-H as has already been tested safely in animals. Even if the vaccine is approved for testing and found to be safe, it may be some time before it become available to the public.

    University of Texas Team

    • In 2008, a group of researchers at the University of Texas Medical School announced that they had found a new way to target HIV. Through the use of abzymes, which are antibodies with enzymatic properties, the team believes medicine and a possible vaccine for HIV could be developed; these abzymes target a part of HIV that does not mutate, a major concern in treating HIV. Although locating a static part of HIV marks a major advancement in research, these findings will require much more research and time to yield a medication or vaccine.

    German Team

    • The Advocate reported in 2007 that a team in Germany had announced the development of an enzyme known as Tre that could cut HIV-1 (the form of the virus that causes most infections outside of Western Africa) out of host cells. This is one of the few advances that provides hope of a cure for people already infected with HIV. As with other findings, however, this treatment, even if found to be effective and approved for use in humans, would not become available for some time.

HIV AIDS - Related Articles