Potential HIV cure using triclosan identified

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy a type of immunotherapy can rapidly restore immune competence in patients with HIV infection.

However long-term treatment with the cellular immunotherapy was associated with lower survival rates for patients compared to chronic patients who were treated for up to 7 years according to researchers.

In an attempt to overcome this limitation researchers led by medical student Sara Vuzicka of the Krembil Brain Institute at the Swedish School of Public Health have tested the effect of using human mix HIV-1 CAR-T cells (human mix CD8 T cells) in combination with triclosan a compound that is known to promote memory and reduce inflammation. Voxickas team found that the effect was significant that extended to non-HIV positive patients irrespective of whether the tissue infected had different types of immune cells. With this data researchers are now considering testing a potential new management strategy for long-term treatment in people with HIV infection. The study was published this week in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Since early-stage viral infection has a high risk of relapse for HIV patients the ongoing success of HIV-positive patients treated with relapsed or refractory T cells is of crucial importance said Dr. Kjetil Bradl co-principal investigator of the study and member of the Krembil Brain Institute Department of Medical and Molecular Epidemiology of the Swedish School of Public Health Karolinska Institutet and fellow at the Department of Clinical Medicine Santo Tomas de Hielo Universit bico de Sant Joan de Lisboa. Therefore it is crucial to define an experimental treatment that induces long-term effectiveness.

T cells are cancer cells that are essential for controlling infections through the immune system. It is quite rare for patients to receive experimental CAR-T cell therapy which involves adding human mix CD8 T cells to their blood.

In this study study on mice became the first to demonstrate that combining humans cell therapy and triclosan – an ingredient found in Gileads antiviral remdesivir – induced long-term effects in adult mice. Adult mice that were treated with the compound for up to 7 years averaged 23. 4 months and 23. 9 months in comparison to 48. 1 months for mice treated for up to 7 years in comparison to 6. 8 months.

The longevity effects began to become apparent after the first year of treatment-up to 9 months for those treated for up to 7 years and by 12 months for those treated for 7 years said study co-principal investigator Dr. Rebecca Sandberg Department of Clinical Medicine Santo Tomas de Hielo. Therefore an initial trial is in progress.