{"id":773,"date":"2010-03-27T13:01:15","date_gmt":"2010-03-27T13:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/?p=773"},"modified":"2011-04-28T00:05:22","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T00:05:22","slug":"an-uncommon-use-for-a-common-drug-offers-hope-to-millions-of-hiv-positive-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/2010\/03\/27\/an-uncommon-use-for-a-common-drug-offers-hope-to-millions-of-hiv-positive-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"An uncommon use for a common drug offers hope to millions of HIV-positive patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Liz H. \u201810<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Microscopic view of HIV (green) emerging from an infected T-cell. CDC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A promising new HIV treatment has been discovered in an unlikely source:\u00a0 a widely available acne medication developed in the 1970s.\u00a0 A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins University reports that minocyclin stops HIV-infected human cells from reactivating and replicating, in a study<\/a> published in the April 15th<\/sup> issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases<\/em>.\u00a0 Their findings may lead to an improved and more effective treatment regimen for HIV infection.<\/p>\n

The researchers focused their study on latent, non-replicating HIV-infected human T-cells.\u00a0 T-cells are a type white blood cell that normally fights infection. \u00a0HIV infects T-cells and can \u201crest\u201d inside of them for an extended period of time.\u00a0 The virus does not harm the T-cell during this latent phase, but can eventually \u201cwake-up\u201d and re-activate the T-cell, which spreads HIV infection and weakens the immune system.<\/p>\n

In this study, the scientists treated latent HIV-infected human T-cells with minocycline and measured the level of re-activated T-cells over time.\u00a0 They also performed the same measurements on cells that were not treated with minocycline.\u00a0 The researchers found that the minocycline-treated cells did not display detectable levels of reactivation while the untreated cells displayed elevated levels.<\/p>\n

Upon closer analysis of the activity of minocycline inside of cells, the scientists discovered that the drug interferes with important cellular communication pathways that cause the T-cell to activate and spread HIV to other cells.\u00a0 \u201cIt prevents the virus from escaping in the one in a million cells in which it lays dormant in a person\u2026That\u2019s the goal:\u00a0 Sustaining a latent non-infectious state,\u201d explains Gregory Szeto, a Hopkins graduate student who worked on the project.<\/p>\n

These findings suggest that minocycline could be used in conjunction with HAART, the current HIV treatment standard, to keep the virus dormant inside of T-cells.\u00a0 \u201cWhile HAART is really effective in keeping down active replication, minocycline is another arm of defense against the virus,\u201d says author Janice Clements.\u00a0 Minocycline is an attractive addition to the current arsenal of HIV medications because it is relatively inexpensive, does not inhibit the ability of T-cells to fight other infections, and is not likely to cause viral drug resistance.<\/p>\n

Current treatment for HIV\/AIDS involves a combination therapy approach known as HAART.\u00a0 Patients on HAART take at least 3 antiretroviral drugs daily that act on the virus in different ways to reduce its levels in the bloodstream.\u00a0 Although HAART can extend the life of an infected individual, it is not a cure and causes unpleasant side effects and the development of drug resistance.\u00a0 For the 40 million HIV-positive individuals worldwide, this new use for minocycline promises improved outcomes.<\/p>\n

Want more information?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is HIV?<\/a><\/p>\n

Press Release<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Liz H. \u201810 A promising new HIV treatment has been discovered in an unlikely source:\u00a0 a widely available acne medication developed in the 1970s.\u00a0 A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins University reports that minocyclin stops HIV-infected human cells from reactivating and replicating, in a study published in the April 15th issue of the … Continue reading An uncommon use for a common drug offers hope to millions of HIV-positive patients<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[2358,2096,2103,2083,2082,2086],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disease","tag-acne","tag-aids","tag-drugs","tag-hiv","tag-infectious-disease","tag-virus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}