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Researchers have discovered a new method of slow viral replication in the gastrointestinal tract of HIV patients.
This can leads to a new therapeutic method of HIV treatment, Antiretroviral Therapy ART improves the control of viral replication in HIV-infected persons and preventing complications associated with chronic infection.
The use of antiretroviral decreases viral loads to undetectable blood levels, and is effective in preventing evolution of the infection towards acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. In spite of the effectiveness of antivirals, HIV hides in the CD4 T cells, which harbour the virus and form viral reservoirs in various peripheral tissues, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract.
Some viral organisms continue to replicate in the reservoir, causing harmful inflammation in the gut. The new method of treatment will modify CD4 T cells that will move from the blood to the gut. Molecule that stimulates HIV replication in CD4 T cells are located in the gut, researchers used drug to block this replication and decrease inflammation of the intestinal mucosa.
Using biopsies of the sigmoid colon and blood of HIV-infected persons on ART therapy, researchers discovered that in the colon, the CD4 T cells which express the CCR6 postal code also contain a large amount of another molecule called mTOR, an important regulator of metabolic mechanisms.
The mTOR molecule is responsible for the high vulnerability to HIV of the CD4 T lymphocytes expressing CCR6 and residing in the gut. Interfering with mTOR activity during in-vitro experiments with existing medications, researchers have been able to significantly reduce HIV replication in the cells of HIV-infected patients whose viral load was undetectable.
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