Accidental Discovery Could Lead to Cure for AIDS Virus

sydlexius writes "A press release from Sandia tells of the discovery of niobium HPA, a chemical that bonds to viruses. Many scientists have been interested in the properties of various HPAs (heteropolyanions), however this is the first such case that is stable in basic and neutral solutions. The Albuquerque Tribune covers the story here. For subscribers of Science Magazine, you can find an article in this month's issue (Abstract)."

Comments

some goofs

[jeffy124]

One does not have AIDS, they have HIV. AIDS is a condition resulting from HIV - the inability to defend one's immune system. Hence, when one has HIV, viruses so incredibly weak can infect the person because of the lack of immune system.

Hence, this drug blocks those viruses, not HIV itself.

Re:some goofs

[YaRness]

it says clearly in the article it would bond to the aids virus (yes, they should say human immunodeficiency virus), stopping the spread of the virus.

"Once such compounds bind with an AIDs virus, the virus is no longer capable of entering a cell to damage it."

Re:some goofs

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Parent isn't a troll, just doesn't quite have the facts straight. ;)

More accurate to say that AIDS is a disease resulting from HIV infection. HIV is itself a virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) which attacks the key cells of the human immune system, leaving it open to all kinds of infection -- viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitical. Drugs which fight these opportunistic infections can (and do) help AIDS patients quite a bit, but it is indeed possible -- and more useful in the long run -- to develop drugs which fight HIV directly. We have plenty such drugs, but none of them work as well or as long as they should. This may be the best of the bunch, if we're lucky.

[rant] I'm consistently amazed at the basic lack of understanding of infectious disease displayed any time a subject like this comes up. People seem to have a quasi-magical conception of pathogens roughly equivalent to believing that stars are holes poked in the roof of the sky, through which the Divine Light shines through. [/rant]

Re:some goofs

[optikSmoke]

Actually, from my understanding (though IANAMD) the parent to your post isn't quite correct in calling AIDS a disease. It's actually a syndrome (Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), thus it is different than the "influenza virus causes influenza". AIDS is the state of having such a poor immune system, caused by the contraction of HIV, that other diseases (like influenza) cannot be fought off. You don't have AIDS until HIV has been in you long enough to batter down your immune system. Thus, having HIV does not infer that you have AIDS, in contrast to having the influenza virus which "immediately" gives you influenza. Or at least, such is my understanding.

Re:some goofs

[JabberWokky]

AIDS is a syndrome, a set of distinct symptoms that occurs to people. It is the Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, previously known as GRID syndrome, or Gay Related Immune Deficiency syndrome. It was renamed when it became known that sexual orientation was not an aspect of the syndrome.

Several years after AIDS was identified as a syndrome sweeping across the population, a retrovirus was found, followed shortly by two others. These are HIV 1, HIV 2 and HIV 3. I can't recall which is common - one tends to be found in Africa, and the other in America. They are, all three of them, very closely related, and differ only slightly in symptoms.

HIV produces a mild flu-like disease. Most people don't even remember it after it happens, and they seldom have to miss work. Their body starts an immune response to the retrovirus, and the infection is beaten back. Like all viruses, however, including those causing Chicken Pox or coldsores, once you are infected, the virus stays with you. The immune response continues, and six months later is easily detectable by doctors - which is why you should always be tested several months *after* you have been exposed to HIV. There is a much more expensive and less reliable DNA test for earlier diagnosis.

The virus sits inside you and can spread to others. Eventually it enters a secondary phase where it starts reproducing inside the cells that compose your immune system response. These cells are destroyed by HIV's life cycle, more HIV enters the bloodstream, and your T count goes down. Eventually, you do not have enough T cells to fight off other dieases, as they have all been ripped apart by HIV using them as virus factories, and you die. Most modern defintions of AIDS include HIV infection and a lowered T cell count. You generally do not get AIDS until several years after you have been infected by HIV, thus allowing you to spread it around.

So influenza viruses cause influenza. Smallpox viruses cause smallpox. Common cold viruses cause the common cold. But HIV viruses cause AIDS.

No. There is no such thing as an "influenza virus that causes influenza". Influenza A is currently in common in A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) variants. Influenza B is also common. They cause a variety of ailments including Croup, Bronchitis, and the classic Flu. It depends on where and how it hits your body. (Strep A on your skin is an itchy red spot you might not notice. In your lungs, it will kill you. Same goes for Anthrax).

Smallpox viruses cause smallpox.

I don't know much about smallpox. They don't teach it anymore. :) From what I understand, that's a good thing. (Sidenote: the Rotary Club is working on Polio Plus, to wipe out a range of dieases around the world in the same way that smallpox has almost totally been eradicated).

Common cold viruses cause the common cold.

Colds are caused by entire classes of viruses - Rhinoviruses and Coronaviruses mostly. There is no medical term "Cold virus", afaik.

It's weird how everyone becomes so picky when it comes to AIDS and HIV but not for other diseases. I wonder why.

People who are HIV positive are perfectly healthy people. They will die eventually, yes, just like you and I. They can spread the virus, but not through common contact. They can lead normal lives for years.

People with AIDS are undergoing a progressive breakdown of their immune system. Somebody coughing on them can kill them. They are often suffering from a variety of infections and cancers, and gather more as time goes by.

There is a substantial difference.

--
Evan (don't they teach this in high school?)

reaching for straws

[g4dget]

There are plenty of compounds that "bind to HIV and keep it from entering cells". Most of them also bind to lots of other things or are poisonous. A few, carefully designed ones (fusion inhibitors) are in clinical trials and may help with drug treatment regimes.

However, since HIV is a retrovirus, it can stay dormant as DNA inside cells and re-appear spontaneously after years or decades even if it is killed off completely. Therefore, it is impossible for drugs to cure HIV; they can only control it and only if taken indefinitely. Only a "curative" vaccine could control HIV infection without drugs, but even in the best possible scenario, people would still remain asymptomatic carriers and they would probably still require regular boosters.

The long and short of it is: don't get infected with HIV. It's a nasty virus, it is intrinsically incurable (although it may be controllable eventually), and it is easy to avoid.