Scientists from the University of Michigan revealed that bone marrow cells can hold latent forms of  HIV

The main problem with HIV is that it is pretty much untreatable. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration; after all, we have the cocktail – a mixture of anti-retroviral drugs that halts the virus in its tracks. But the bitter truth is that the cocktail only slows down the progress of the disease, and prolongs the time until the virus manages to demolish the immune system of the patient. We just can’t seem to eradicate the virus from the body. Why? Where is it hiding so well?

Scientists from the University of Michigan now believe they have at least a partial answer to those questions. According to a new research published online in Nature Medicine, bone marrow can contain latent forms of the virus, and essentially serve as a safe house for it. The bone marrow cells were previously thought to be resistant to the virus, but it is now clear that in order to cure HIV patients, drugs will have to be developed that will be able to target the latently infected cells.

So far, so good. After all, as soon as we develop those drugs, they might just put an end to the disease, right? For some reason, I keep wondering about that. In the current situation, the drug companies make quite a profit from selling the cocktail, which has to be taken for the entire life duration of the patient. A final cure for HIV is definitely going to hurt their profits. I’m not trying to make up a conspiracy theory, but I wonder if the big drug companies will really try to walk this road and make a real attempt at developing those new drugs. I won’t be surprised if the U.S. government will subsidize some of the research, or offer other incentives to make sure the research in those companies is kept on the right track.

Source: University of Michigan press release

The original paper

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