THE US National Institutes of Health (NIH) plan to rekindle HIV infection
that lingers in patients’ white blood cells, in the hope of eradicating the
virus for good.
Powerful drug combinations can wipe out HIV particles in the blood. But some
remain tucked away in the DNA of long-lived white blood cells, safe from the
drugs’ attack. So patients must continue toxic drug therapy indefinitely.
Now Anthony Fauci, AIDS research chief at the NIH, has announced a plan to
combine the drugs with cytokines—chemicals made by the body that activate
the immune system. He hopes the cytokines will activate the infected cells,
causing them to die, while continued drug therapy shuts off further viral
replication.
