Treat herpes, treat HIV?
Drugs that target common infection might limit spread of AIDS virus.
Drugs that fight genital herpes also significantly reduce levels of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in patients infected with both viruses, a new study finds. Most HIV-positive patients also carry the herpes simplex virus, so anti-herpes drugs might help to restrict the spread of HIV.
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Comments
Interesting study. I guess the lowered HIV in genital could be attributed to less viral shedding when HSV is suppressed, thus stopping spreading the virus. But what contributes to the lower plasma HIV level? Could it be possible that the activated acyclovir (up to triphosphate form) be picked up by HIV RT, and incorporated/chain-terminated the HIV viral DNA?
Posted by: Ligong Wang | February 23, 2007 06:31 PM
finding the site of action of the valacyclovir drug on HIV may tell the restriction site of HIV to discover the site specific drug for HIV.
Posted by: Muralidhara Rao.M | February 24, 2007 06:37 AM
Congratulations. I have waited twenty years for this study to get done. I suggested it multiple times to the successive corporate owners of val+/-acyclovir. Epidemiologic anecdotal evidence in the mid eighties suggested this outcome, evidence that arose from a clinician's observation of patterns in his patients.
HIV is transactivated by a large number of co-infectious agents and treating such infections aggressively should be one of the basic tenets of HIV care. In fact, Luc Montaigner stated adamantly that HIV alone does not progress to AIDS: there must be other infections (obvious or subclinical) active in the individual in order to drive the reproduction of HIV. Many infections escape our detection, our attention or our knowledge threshhold: as a resident once told me “You must auscultate the heart with your mind, not just your ears.” We should look harder and treat earlier in HIV patients.
Chronic sinusitis is an easy example, being probably the most common opportunistic infection in HIV patients (in the US, in my experience). Typically however doctors who treat HIV patients fail to notice it until it has smouldered for years or become almost a housefire, in my opinion. When they do treat it they use insufficient doses & courses of antibiotics, as would be more appropriate for immunologically healthy clients.
I essentially prescribed val/acyclovir for everyone of my HIV patients for 16 years while I was in private practice and had a predominantly gay, HIV positive clientele in Washington DC. Besides staying healthier longer, they derived other benefits. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is largely an EBV-related virus and among the 1500 clients I treated for years (and gave acyclovir or valacyclovir) I only diagnosed two cases of NHL, one patient had just entered my practice with the illness and the other was taking a lowered dose of acyclovir. This incidence of NHL is startlingly below the observed incidence in HIV patients in general. I suspect acyclovir might have helped achieve this result.
Posted by: Larry M Bruni | February 26, 2007 10:42 PM
Chronic sinusitis is an easy example, being probably the most common opportunistic infection in HIV patients (in the US, in my experience). Typically however doctors who treat HIV patients fail to notice it until it has smouldered for years or become almost a housefire, in my opinion. When they do treat it they use insufficient doses & courses of antibiotics, as would be more appropriate for immunologically healthy clients.
Posted by: garry | July 6, 2007 09:40 AM
Dr. Bruni's words and thoughts on HIV are as important to me as The Bible. If it wern't for his intellect and problem solving skills,not only would I be unable to write this post,but I suspect that I would have met death many years ago .
GOD BLESS YOU GOOD DOCTOR and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Rick REYEXG@AOL.COM
Posted by: richard rixey | December 6, 2007 04:30 PM
herpes its not good and i have it and i got blisters and im sore sometimes
Posted by: sarahokumura | January 5, 2008 01:12 AM