Could a shot given every one to three months reduce the risk of getting HIV? WGGB.com reported that new research suggests that the answer is yes.
In two studies, wrote Nature, researchers showed that an antiviral drug injected into muscle of macaque monkeys protected them from infection for weeks afterward.
These findings were published in the journal Science. Similar results from a study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were also found.
According to Nature, David Ho, a virologist at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and a co-author of the study published in Science, and his colleagues, who included researchers from GlaxoSmithKline, studied an experimental drug called GSK744.
GSK744 is a highly potent analogue of dolutegravir (sold as Tivicay) which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for HIV treatment last year.
GSK744 is in a class of antiretroviral drugs called integrase inhibitors. These medications block HIV from inserting its genetic material into the body's immune cells.
GSK744 is not soluble in water, so the researchers melted it and crystallized it into nanoparticles which they suspended in solution. When injected into muscle, this fluid forms a ‘depot’ and slowly seeps into the blood and tissues, including the rectum, where HIV exposure can occur. The depot allows the agent to stay around for three to four months.
GSK744 protected the monkeys from repeated attempts to infect them with a hybrid simian/human AIDS virus called SHIV.
Ho and his team squirted a solution containing SHIV into the rectums of 16 macaque monkeys once a week for eight weeks. Half of the monkeys received two injections of GSK744 during that period. The other half, which was the control group, did not.
All the monkeys that received GSK744 were protected. Those in the control group became infected.
CDC researchers gave six monkeys shots of the drug every four weeks; six others got dummy shots. All were exposed to the virus twice a week for 11 weeks.
Monkeys who got dummy shots became infected, "but the animals that received the long-acting drug remained protected," CDC study leader Gerardo Garcia-Lerma told DenverPost.com.
“Both groups showed 100 percent protection” with the drug, Dr. Robert Grant, an AIDS expert at the Gladstone Institutes said of the two groups of researchers. “If it works and proves to be safe, it would allow for HIV to be prevented with periodic injections, perhaps every three months.”
Researchers expect to launch human trials for GSK744 within a matter of months.
Sources:
"Long-acting shot prevents infection with HIV analogue." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
http://www.nature.com/news/long-acting-shot-prevents-infection-with-hiv-analogue-1.14819
Smith, Michael . "Long-Acting HIV Drug Eyed as Prevention." Long-Acting HIV Drug Eyed as Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/CROI/44623
"Studies Show Big Promise for HIV Prevention Drug." WGGB Springfield Studies Show Big Promise for HIV Prevention Drug Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
http://www.wggb.com/2014/03/04/studies-show-big-promise-for-hiv-prevention-drug
"Studies show promise for long-lasting HIV prevention drug." - The Denver Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_25276551/studies-show-promise-long-lasting-hiv-prevention-drug
Thompson, Dennis. "Long-Acting HIV Drug May Offer Better Protection Against Infection." Consumer HealthDay. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
http://consumer.healthday.com/health-technology-information-18/research-and-development-health-news-578/long-acting-hiv-drug-may-offer-better-protection-against-infection-685477.html
Vence, Tracy. "The Scientist." The Scientist. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39348/title/Long-Acting-HIV-Drug-Shows-Promise
Reviewed March 31, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith