Two medical teams from French universities of Strasbourg (East) and Marseille (South) discovered a protein that prevents HIV, which causes AIDS, to replicate, it announced on Thursday the Faculty of Strasbourg.
The researchers found the properties inhibitors of human protein HBPB (short for English Human Phosphate Binding Protein) in the ability to replicate the virus HIV.
“The results obtained in vitro show that this protein acts in a way not yet targeted by current therapies,” stressed the scientists in a statement.
This protein was already known, but it just to discover its properties in the fight against HIV.
This protein is also very effective against the strains of classical HIV as strains resistant to antiretroviral AZT.
“These promising results open the way to new strategies to develop treatments against HIV”, added the text of the authors of the study, that planned to begin soon in testing live.
Use on a large scale of this protein, however, could occur before several years, the time to do well all the evidence, first on animals and then on patient volunteers.
“Is now a question of means”, indicated doctors. “Now all indicators are green, the early toxicity test showed no side effects, but tests on animals are very expensive and even more so in humans”, added.
