(건강) 항암치료약 때문에 혈류 밖으로 튀어 나온 HIV

출처: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33720325

31 July 2015

HIV flushed out by cancer drug 항암치료약 때문에 혈류 밖으로 튀어 나온 HIV

By James GallagherHealth and science reporter, BBC News website

HIV can be flushed out of its hiding places in the body using a cancer drug, researchers show. 몸 속 은신처(혈류)에 숨어 있던 HIV는 항암치료제를 사용하면서 은신처 밖으로 튀어나올 수 있다고 연구원들은 말한다.

The cornerstone of treatment, anti-retroviral therapy, kills the virus in the bloodstream but leaves "HIV reservoirs" untouched. 획기적인 치료제인 항레트로바이러스 테라피는 혈류 속 바이러스를 죽이나 HIV 저장소를 고스란히 남겨둔다.

The study, published in PLoS Pathogens, showed the drug was "highly potent" at reactivating hidden HIV. PLoS(역자: A Peer-Reviewed-Open Access Journal)병원균학회지에 실린 이번 연구에 의하면, 항암약은 숨어 있던 HIV를 재활성화하는데 "너무 강력"했다고 한다.

Experts said the findings were interesting, but it was important to know if the drug was safe in patients. 이번에 발견한 것들은 흥미롭지만, 항암약이 환자들에게 안전한 것인지 아는 것은 중요하다고 말했다.

The power of the HIV reservoir was shown with the case of the Mississippi baby. HIV 보균의 영향력은 미시시피 아기의 경우에 잘 드러났다.

She was given antiretroviral drugs at birth. Despite appearing to be free of HIV for nearly two years after stopping treatment, she was found to be harbouring the virus. 이 여아는 태어날 때 항레트로 바이러스 약이 주어졌다. 두 살 때 치료를 중단했을 때 HIV가 없는 것으로 보였음에도 불구하고, 이 여아는 그 바이러스를 갖고 있는 것으로 판단되었다.

'Kick and kill' '차서 죽여라'

A strategy known as "kick and kill" is thought to be key to curing HIV - the kick would wake up the dormant HIV allowing the drugs to kill it. "차서 죽여라"로 알려진 전략이 HIV를 치료하는 핵심으로 생각된다. 차는 행위는 수면중인 HIV로 하여금 약물이 그 바이러스를 죽이도록 활성화 하게 된다.

The team at the UC Davis School of Medicine investigated PEP005 - one of the ingredients in a treatment to prevent cancer in sun-damaged skin.

They tested the drug in cells grown in the laboratory and in parts of the immune system taken from 13 people with HIV.

The report said "PEP005 is highly potent in reactivating latent HIV" and that the chemical represents "a new group of lead compounds for combating HIV".

One of the researchers, Dr Satya Dandekar, said: "We are excited to have identified an outstanding candidate for HIV reactivation and eradication that is already approved and is being used in patients.

"This molecule has great potential to advance into translational and clinical studies."

However, the drug has still not been tested in people who are HIV-positive.

Prof Sharon Lewin, from the University of Melbourne, said the results were "interesting" and marked an "important advance in finding new compounds that can activate latent HIV".

She told the BBC: "This study adds another family of drugs to test to potentially eliminate long-lived forms of HIV although much more work needs to be done to see if this works in patients.

"Although PEP005 is part of an FDA approved drug, it will first take some time to work out if it is safe to use in the setting of HIV."