Current HIV Research

There has been a number of HIV oriented research so far. Many more are taken up each day. HIV research is probably the most challenging of all medical researches. Every year several HIV research programs are conducted. However, the present year brought big hopes in this field, as the current HIV research in the year 2010, is really a big success.

A few latest and current HIV research:

1. NEW CELLULAR ‘ARMOUR’ DEVELOPMENT TO PREVENT INFECTION BY AIDS VIRUS: Mr. Felix Goni conducted this research with the help of CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. The research yielded a new way to combat HIV attack by creating a protecting shield, “ARMOUR”, on the patient’s vulnerable cells, and thereby preventing the virus from entering these cells. This current HIV research was based on the theory of ‘Fusion of the membranes’. The fusion between the membrane of the host cell and that of the virus leads to the admission of the virus into the skin. This happens because
   • Our cell membranes are very fragile
   • It also creates an orifice that facilitates the fusion
   The main aim of the research was to restrain this fusion, by creating protecting armor around the cell membrane. This is achieved with the help of a drug that makes the membranes of the cells more rigid, non-porous and non-penetrable.
2. Another current HIV research considers mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), as a therapy for HIV related nephropathy. This research was conducted by Dr. Pravin C. Singal, at Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in several American cities like New York, Texas, San Antonio and Manhasset. The research propounded that activation of mTOR and renal diseases can be treated with rapamycin. Blocking these mTOR can treat the spread of HIV. mTOR, a protein substance controls cell functions like cell divisions. mTOR becomes more active during certain diseases like cancer. This current HIV research showed that it also gets active during HIV, and therefore, blocking them can kill the HIV infected cells too.
3. Another current HIV research found two human antibodies, namely VRC01 and VRC02, that can fight almost all HIV strains, and combat the HIV infection. However, its success was only limited to the laboratory setup. If these antibodies prove to be successful outside the laboratory too, then it can be used to prepare better HIV vaccines and antiretroviral drugs. They can also be used to isolate antibodies and design vaccines for other infections too. This research was conducted by Anthony S. Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The research team believes that these antibodies can neutralize the virus strains more efficiently than any other antibodies.
4. Study of HIV viral protein structure, in order to design new molecular medicines, is a current HIV research going on in National Physical Laboratory, USA. It studied the viral protein structures more vividly, so that the pharmacists can identify their loopholes, and design better drugs for the people, by targeting those loopholes.
5. Another current HIV research was conducted by Alexander Revzin. He designed a “lab on a chip” device for testing HIV. This micro fluidic device can capture the HIV infected T-cells from our white blood cells, and figures out the type and level of cytokines, an inflammatory protein, released by the cells.

Current HIV researches are novel in approach. They try to discover various aspects of the disease, resorting to some really out of the box thoughts and ideas. That is the reason, why most of the recent researches were so successful.