MONDAY, Jan. 3, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- Researchers have developed a method of coaxing HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, out of hiding so it can be attacked.
HIV can become dormant and virtually undetectable to avoid destruction by highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a treatment that uses a combination of anti-HIV drugs.
HAART can keep HIV under control. But the virus still lurks in the body and, given the chance, can replicate and attack the immune system.
Researchers at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia found that an immune cell protein called interleukin-7 is more effective than other previously-tested agents in persuading HIV to show itself and make it vulnerable to anti-HIV drugs and the body's immune system.
If further tests prove this method is effective, it could help in the development of improved treatment for HIV infection.
The study appears in the Jan. 4 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information about living with HIV/AIDS.
