Herpes Drug Can Be Used to Treat HIV, Study

A new study has suggested that drugs like Valacyclovir which is used to treat genital herpes can also be used to reduce HIV levels in the body. The drug can be used to treat HIV patients even if they have tested negative for herpes.

Lead author of the study, Leonid Margolis from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) said the "findings are very encouraging."

He added, "If Valacyclovir's effectiveness against HIV can be confirmed in a larger cohort, it could be added to the mix of drugs used to suppress the virus, and might prove especially helpful in cases in which HIV has developed resistance to other drugs."

Previous studies had shown that the drug reduces HIV levels in patients who are also co-infected with the herpes HSV-2 virus. With the new study, it has been revealed that the drug works by directly interfering with the reproductive machinery of the HIV virus even when the patient is affected with herpes.

Researchers believe that Valacyclovir works by attaching phosphates groups to itself which leads to a chemical change in its structure. This altered drugs form not only managed to suppress the HSV-2 virus but has also shown the potential to impair the HIV virus' to reproduce.

To determine the efficacy of the drug, 18 patients who tested positive for HIV but not for HSv-2 were included in the study. Half the patients were given Valacyclovir while the rest were given a placebo. After the completion of two weeks, the patients who were originally given the real drug were now being administered the placebo.

As expected when the patients took Valacyclovir, their HIV levels reduced but showed signs of increase when they were switched to placebo medications.

Scientists now believe that Valacyclovir can be added to the cocktail of drugs which is used to treat HIV.