New research by an international team finds that Ciclopirox, an antifungal cream used all over the world, completely eradicates HIV - the virus that leads to AIDS - in cultured cells, and the virus does not return when the treatment stops.
The study also found Deferiprone, a systemic drug used to remove excess iron from the body in people who have beta-thalassaemia major, has the same effect.
The researchers, including a team from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, write about their findings in a paper published online this week in the journal PLOS ONE.
As both drugs are already approved for use in humans - both in the US and Europe - the researchers say this means the normally lengthy process of drug development should be less costly and time-consuming, bringing closer the prospect of global elimination of HIV and AIDS.
Drugs reactivate suicide pathway in HIV-infected cells
Viruses thrive by invading cells and using their resources. The cells of our body have a natural way of stopping this - they kill themselves. When the immune system detects the presence of a virus, it triggers a cell process called apoptosis that makes infected cells commit suicide.
But the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has a way around this: it disables the host cell's ability to commit suicide, allowing it to continue to exploit cellular resources to fuel its growth and spread.
In this new study, the researchers found the drugs work against HIV in two ways: they inhibit expression of certain HIV genes, and they also jam up the host cell's mitochondria, the little powerhouses that supply them with energy. Both these effects reactivate the cell's suicide pathway.
