December 2003 Cover
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An elusive goal of HIV/AIDS researchers has long been to find a way to flush the virus out of latently infected cells so that it can be attacked by antiviral regimens. Recently, scientists reported preliminary encouraging results of a small human pilot study involving a nasal spray of a synthetic protein fragment, Peptide T.
The patients are "long-term nonprogressors," meaning they have been HIV-positive for a long time without developing AIDS. The men received daily nasal sprays of Peptide T for as long as 32 weeks. Though blood levels of virus did not change, researchers found the level of virus hiding in monocytes was significantly reduced.
The next step will be to conduct placebo-controlled trials of Peptide T in a larger, more representative cross-section of people with higher blood levels of the virus.
Editor's Note: from the Wall Street Journal
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