HIV weakening.

[Guest guest]

here's the report which i read about hiv, also, in this month's

Scientific American.

-anouk

 

 

 

http://www.drugresearcher.com/news/ng.asp?id=62910-hiv-aids-antiretroviral

 

 

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Study suggests weakening HIV virus

 

By Wai Lang Chu

 

 

 

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30/09/2005 - According to new study, the virus that causes AIDS is

becoming more sensitive to drug treatments, contradicting a wealth of

research that demonstrates the emergence of drug resistant viral strains.

 

The news contrasts the widely-held belief that HIV would increase in

virulence as it passed through more and more human hosts. Confirmation

of this discovery could shape the direction and approach of current

HIV drug research.

 

Scientists from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, in Antwerp,

compared HIV-1 samples from 1986-89 and 2002-03. They found that the

2002-03 samples did not replicate as efficiently.

 

This would imply that over a number of generations, HIV could become

less harmful to its human hosts.

 

However, they were only able to compare 12 samples from each time

period, and they were unable fully to tease out any effect that drug

therapy may have had on the virus.

 

Despite the promise of this study, there are questions as to whether

it was possible to draw firm conclusions from such a small study.

 

Some strains of HIV have become naturally resistant to the presence of

drugs such as antiretroviral therapy.

 

It has been estimated that up to 20 per cent of new infections now

involve the transmission of resistant virus, meaning new classes of

HIV drugs (especially against novel targets) will provide the only

hope of treatment for an increasing number of patients.

 

The researchers, writing in the journal Aids, stressed the discovery

did not mean efforts to prevent the spread of HIV should be scaled down.

 

" This was a very preliminary study, but we did find a pretty striking

observation in that the viruses from the 2000s are much weaker than

the viruses from the eighties, " said researcher, Dr Eric Artz.

 

" Obviously this virus is still causing death, although it may be

causing death at a slower rate of progression now. Maybe in another 50

to 60 years we might see this virus not causing death. "

 

Exactly why the virus seems to be weakening over time is unclear

although theories have been out forward.

 

" These findings suggest that HIV-1 replicative fitness may have

decreased in the human population since the start of the pandemic, "

the study said.

 

" This 'attenuation' could be the consequence of serial bottlenecks

during transmission and result in adaptation of HIV-1 to the human host. "

 

If this were to be true, HIV could become less harmful to its human hosts.

 

" Obviously this virus is still causing death, although it may be

causing death at a slower rate of progression now, " Artz commented.

 

" Maybe in another 50 to 60 years we might see this virus not causing

death. "

 

According to the World Health Organisation, other diseases - such as

smallpox, TB and syphilis - have shown similar behaviour, weakening

over time.

 

Scientists have pointed to the phenomenon that demonstrates a natural

trend to reach an equilibrium between the agent and the host

interests, in order to guarantee concomitant survival for a longer time.