It is estimated that 34M people are living with an HIV/AIDS infection around the world, with nearly 3M infected newly with HIV each year. Although advances have been made in reducing the impact of infection, the hope of an HIV vaccine has remained elusive.
Recent results from Antiviral Therapy may help point the way toward reducing infection in the first place: the study shows how bee venom (melittin) can help stop an HIV infection before it starts. The emphasis here is on HIV prevention rather than a cure for an existing infection, killing HIV before it takes root, rather than keeping it from replicating later.
Researchers took advantage of the fact that all viruses need a protective coat, and the melittin attacks that coat, effectively killing the HIV. Because melittin can do damage to lots of different kinds of cells, the researchers wanted to ensure that the melittin damage was targeted to HIV. To that end, researchers encased it in nanoparticles (it's own sort of protective coat) arranged so that small HIV could pass through, but larger, healthy cells could not.
Lead author, Joshua Hood, says, "“Melittin on the nanoparticles fuses with the viral envelope. The melittin forms little pore-like attack complexes and ruptures the envelope, stripping it off the virus... We are attacking an inherent physical property of HIV. Theoretically, there isn’t any way for the virus to adapt to that. The virus has to have a protective coat, a double-layered membrane that covers the virus.”
The authors see the finding as a first step toward a vaginal gel that could be used to protect a woman against an HIV infection, and even towards a possible treatment for drug-resistant HIV infections. In the latter case, the idea would be to inject the nanoparticles directly into the blood stream, and let the melittin do its work there.
We are a long way from full-scale clinical trials, but the results may give hope that maybe someday HIV will go the way of polio and smallpox.
More information:
http://goo.gl/Ov5x6
http://bit.ly/VVJl0x
HIV/AIDS stats:
http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm
Original article: Hood JL, Jallouck AP, Campbell N, Ratner L, Wickline SA. Cytolytic nanoparticles attenuate HIV-1 infectivity. Antiviral Therapy. Vol. 19: 95 - 103. 2013
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