HIV Reservoirs and Treatment Strategies toward Curing HIV Infection

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 25; no. 5; p. 2621
• Main Authors: Matsuda, Kouki, Maeda, Kenji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.02.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - drug therapy; AIDS; Anti-HIV Agents - pharmacology; Antiretroviral drugs; Antiviral agents; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Drug development; Drug therapy; Genomes; Genomics; Health aspects; Highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV; HIV (Viruses); HIV infection; HIV Infections; HIV-1; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Kinases; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mortality; Prognosis; Review; Tofacitinib; Virus Activation; Virus Latency; Vorinostat; Block and Lock; Shock and Kill; latency-reversing agents; HIV; HIV reservoir; HIV cure
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms25052621

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has significantly improved the prognosis of individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome has transformed from a fatal disease to a treatable chronic infection. Currently, effective and safe anti-HIV drugs are available. Although cART can reduce viral production in the body of the patient to below the detection limit, it cannot eliminate the HIV provirus integrated into the host cell genome; hence, the virus will be produced again after cART discontinuation. Therefore, research into a cure (or remission) for HIV has been widely conducted. In this review, we focus on drug development targeting cells latently infected with HIV and assess the progress including our current studies, particularly in terms of the “Shock and Kill”, and “Block and Lock” strategies.