Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have published pioneering research showing that a drug used to treat certain types of lymphoma was able to dislodge hidden virus in patients receiving treatment for HIV. (Credit: © rangizzz / Fotolia)

Pioneering Study Shows Drug Can Purge Dormant HIV

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have published pioneering research showing that a drug used to treat certain types of lymphoma was able to dislodge hidden virus in patients receiving treatment for HIV.

“This work provides compelling evidence for a new strategy to directly attack and eradicate latent HIV infection,” said David Margolis, MD, professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology, and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Targeting latency is the first step on a path that may lead to a cure.

“Long-term, widespread use of antiretrovirals has personal and public health consequences, including side effects, financial costs, and community resistance,” said Margolis, who led the study. “We must seek other ways to end the epidemic, and this research provides new hope for a strategy to eradicate HIV completely from the body.”

Early results of this study were first presented and reported in March 2012 at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle, Washington.