AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, December 23, 2002
Michael Greer, Senior Medical Writer

"Latent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) persists even in patients treated with antiretroviral therapy," explained Deirdre D. Scripture-Adams and colleagues working at the University of California at Los Angeles. "New treatment strategies are therefore needed to eradicate this latent viral reservoir without reducing immune cell function."

The cytokine interleukin (IL)-7 can activate HIV in latently infected cells without affecting cellular phenotype, Scripture-Adams and coauthors found.

The researchers evaluated the effect of IL-7 treatment on primary human T cells latently infected with HIV. Severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) transgenic mice were used for this analysis, according to the report.

IL-7 triggered expression of HIV in latently infected T cells, study data showed. Affected cells showed "minimal" phenotypical changes.

Similar results were seen for latently infected thymocytes after IL-7 treatment (Interleukin-7 induces expression of latent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 with minimal effects on T-cell phenotype. J Virol 2002 Dec;76(24):13077-82.

"Thus, IL-7 is a viable candidate to activate expression of latent HIV and may facilitate immune clearance of latently infected cells," Scripture-Adams and colleagues concluded.

The corresponding author for this report is Jerome A. Zack, UCLA School of Medicine/Medicine, 11-934 Factor Building., Mail Code 167817, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. E-mail: jzack@ucla.edu.

A search at www.NewsRx.net using the search term "AIDS and HIV therapy" yielded 1193 articles in 29 specialized reports.

Key points reported in this study include:

• Interleukin (IL)-7 can activate latent HIV infection

• IL-7-induced HIV reactivation renders the virus susceptible to eradication by antiretroviral drugs

• Importantly, IL-7 has only minimal effects on the phenotype of latently infected immune cells

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference

Scripture-Adams DD, Brooks DG, Korin YD, et al., "Interleukin-7 induces expression of latent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 with minimal effects on T-cell phenotype", J Virol 2002 Dec;76(24):13077-82.

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