Washington, Jan 26 (Inditop.com) A new compound developed by researchers is 60,000 times more potent than current drugs to combat HIV.
These researchers are developing alternative preventative strategies, such as vaginal gels and creams that contain the same or related compounds used in such treatments.
The new compound, EFdA, is “60,000 times more potent than any other drug that is currently being used to treat HIV”, said Stefan Sarafianos, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the Missouri University (MU) School of Medicine.
“This compound has a different chemical makeup than other approved therapies and creates an exceptional amount of anti-viral activity. EFdA is activated very quickly and stays long in the body to fight the virus and protect from infection,” added Sarafianos.
When a person is exposed to HIV, the virus invades healthy cells that play an important role in keeping the body’s immune system strong. In order to multiply itself and remain in the body, the HIV virus relies on certain proteins.
One protein, known as reverse transcriptase, is the main HIV enzyme responsible for viral replication. Effective HIV drugs control the virus by blocking the functions of these viral proteins.
EFdA is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI). NRTIs target reverse transcriptase and can stop the virus from duplicating and spreading.
Currently, there are eight clinically approved NRTIs, but they can protect cells for only short periods of time. With EFdA, patients could be protected for two days instead of a few hours and would not need to take the drug as often, Sarafianos said.
“Infection is the result of an overwhelming attack of the virus, but if you manage to keep the viral load low, the body has a mechanism to defend itself and clean up the virus on its own,” Sarafianos said, according to an MU release.
He hopes EFdA also can double as a preventative agent in the form of a vaginal gel or cream. This would provide additional protection to women whose partners refuse to use condoms.
These findings were published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
