Drug 'weeds out' dormant HIV

A drug has been found to be effective at weeding out HIV virus that lies dormant in cells.

Called suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), the chemical can "turn on" latent HIV and therefore prove effective at identifying the virus when it is missed by other treatments, a study from the University of California (UCSF) has found.

HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy) is currently thought of as among the most effective HIV treatments, as it manages to stabilise virus levels so that it is almost undetectable.

However, when used in conjunction with SAHA, the dormant virus missed by HAART can be identified, researchers from UCSF's department of medicine wrote in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The treatment was shown to work successfully on blood samples taken from HIV patients, as well as on laboratory cells. The level of toxicity in the treatment has also been suggested to be unproblematic.

In the developing world, more than 90 per cent of the entire world's HIV cases are found.

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