HIV cure expected 'within months,' Danish scientists say

A breakthrough in the search for a cure for HIV will come ''within months'', researchers believe.

Danish scientists are expecting results showing that it will be possible to find a cure that is both affordable and can be provided to a large number of people.

They are running clinical trials to test a ''novel strategy'' in which the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, is stripped from human DNA and destroyed by the immune system.

It has already been found to work in laboratory tests and the scientists are now running human trials.


The technique involves releasing the HIV virus from ''reservoirs'' it forms in DNA cells, bringing it to the surface of the cells. Once it comes to the surface, the body's immune system can kill the virus through being boosted by a ''vaccine''.

In vitro studies - those that use human cells in a laboratory - of the new technique proved so successful that in January the Danish Research Council awarded the team 12 million kroner ($2 million) to pursue clinical trials with human subjects.

Ole Sogaard, a senior researcher at the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark who is leading the study, said: ''I am almost certain we will be successful in releasing the reservoirs of HIV.

''The challenge will be getting the immune system to recognise the virus and destroy it. This depends on the strength and sensitivity of individual immune systems.''

Fifteen patients are taking part in the trials, and if they are found to have been cured of HIV, the process will be tested on a wider scale.

The technique uses drugs called HDAC inhibitors, more commonly employed in treating cancer.

It is also being researched in Britain, but studies have not yet moved on to the clinical trial stage.




Telegraph, London
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