Yale research study finds HIV drug effective in mice

A new drug has been successful in suppressing HIV and protecting immune cells in animals, according to a study conducted by a team of Yale researchers.

The study authors also found that the medication was effective for weeks with a single dose, and that the compound — at least at these early stages — seems like a good candidate to enhance current HIV therapies without increasing toxic side effects.

According to a news release from Yale, the finding builds on the work of senior co-authors Karen S. Anderson and William L. Jorgensen, who used computational and structure-based design methods to develop a class of compounds that target a viral protein essential for HIV to replicate.

The researchers refined this class of compounds to boost potency, lower toxicity and improve drug-like properties in order to identify a promising preclinical drug candidate. In collaboration with Priti Kumar’s lab at Yale, the drug candidate was tested in mice with transplanted human blood cells and infected with HIV.

In the humanized mice, the compound suppressed the virus to undetectable levels in the blood, protected the immune cells that the virus infects and worked with approved HIV medications, the researchers said.

While further testing is needed, the compound has potential for improving treatment for HIV, which affects 37 million people worldwide, said Anderson in the release.

“Our drug candidate works synergistically with all current classes of HIV drugs, as well as some that are also being tested in clinical trials. It enhances their potency and could be a better combination medication.”

The study, published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was supported by National Institute of Health grants.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, a disease that causes the body to lose its natural protection against infection. The virus is found in the body fluids of infected individuals and can be transmitted during vaginal, anal or oral sex; or when sharing needles to shoot drugs, pierce the body or make tattoos.

Pregnant women with HIV infection can pass the virus to their baby during pregnancy or delivery, as well as through breast feeding.

According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, between 1981 and 2015, roughly 21,274 people had been diagnosed with HIV in the state. Almost half of those people — 10,456 — have died.