A common drug to treat alcoholism, disulfiram, could help find the long-awaited definitive cure for HIV, according to the results of the latest study led by researchers from the University of Melbourne (Australia) and collected in the journal The Lancet HIV .
This drug that helps discourage patients from drinking works by blocking an enzyme called dehydrogenase , which plays a key role in the metabolism of alcohol intake. Inhibiting this enzyme causes that if the patient consumes alcohol, he or she obtains “as a reward” a severe headache, nausea, chest pain, vomiting, weakness, blurred vision, mental confusion or generalized sweating.
Until now, antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the main treatment for HIV, and involves a combination of at least three antiretroviral drugs that slow the progression of the disease. Despite having reduced mortality rates, this therapy does not represent a cure for one of the most serious and complicated diseases in the world.
The HIV virus is very smart and that is why it is taking so long to kill it. In their clinical trials, the 30 HIV-positive patients in the study were given disulfiram for three days (500 mg on the first day, 1000 mg on the second day, and 2000 mg on the third day). The experts discovered that thanks to the three doses, the sleeping cells of HIV “woke up”, a fact that would allow these cells to be destroyed . The ability of this drug to awaken these cells would be the key to curing the virus.
Furthermore, apart from this discovery, the researchers found that awakening latent HIV had no toxic side effects. “Even though the drug was only given for 3 days, we have seen a clear increase in virus in the plasma, which was very encouraging. This trial clearly demonstrates that disulfiram is non-toxic and safe to use, and very possibly could be the game changer we need, ”explains Sharon Lewin, leader of the study.
“ Now we have to find a way to get rid of the infected cell. We have a lot to learn about how to ultimately eradicate this very smart virus, “says Julian Elliott, co-author of the paper.
