A faster and more accurate method to determine the HIV virus pool may tell you how long it will take to clear it all

A faster and more accurate method to determine the HIV virus pool.  A new test method can measure the quantity and quality of the inactive HIV virus in the genes of HIV-infected people, and ultimately may enable researchers to better understand which drugs are best for curing the disease.

There is currently no cure for HIV and AIDS, but antiretroviral drugs or ARTs can effectively suppress the virus to undetectable levels.

The research, published today in Cell Reports Medicine, discusses how a new test jointly developed by scientists from the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center will benefit researchers ( Ultimately, the doctor) provides an easier way to determine the amount of HIV that may reside in the patient’s genome.

Dr. Florian Hladik said that this potential reservoir of HIV stems from the integration of HIV into DNA, especially in the chromosomes of T lymphocytes and macrophages. He is the senior author of the paper and a research professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Wisconsin. He added that the integration of the virus into the host cell genome is a unique feature of retroviruses.

Hladik said current tests are very complicated, expensive, and sometimes give inaccurate viral load readings. The two existing tests are done by sequencing viral DNA in patient cells or by inducing functional viral outgrowth from patient cell culture in vitro. Both are time-consuming and expensive, and it is not easy to use themselves for testing new drug candidates for the treatment of HIV.

He said: “Our laboratory testing is an easier way to quantify the complete virus library.”

The evaluation of new therapies for the treatment of HIV infection relies on repeated measurements of the number of cells containing HIV DNA before, during and after treatment. Current assays cannot provide this information quickly enough or with sufficient accuracy to be useful in future clinical trials. Moreover, certain testing methods require several blood draws from each patient subject.

The test is performed by using a novel detection method that takes advantage of the multiple capabilities of the droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR). It can not only detect the presence of integrated HIV DNA in each separated DNA molecule, but also determine whether the viral DNA is intact or defective. Use commercial software and custom analysis to count the number of T cells in the genome that contain intact HIV DNA.

Compared with previous PCR analysis, this provides us with more information about specific viruses in the human body. “

Claire Levy, research technologist in Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Wisconsin, lead author of the paper

She said that previous detection methods were only effective-like searching for someone’s information on the Internet and learning only their name. To continue the analogy, the new analysis method will generate more information, such as full name, age, and height.

For HIV, this additional information about the virus can help scientists understand its behavior in the human body.

Levy and Hladik explained that, in fact, this new PCR assay will help researchers determine the effectiveness of the anti-HIV/AIDS drug candidates being tested by closely tracking how many cells with intact HIV DNA are present after each administration. Sex.

“I can see patients go to the doctor and add it to the list of questions they might ask. Now they ask about their viral load and T cell count. I hope in the future they can ask about their HIV counts. How likely is the virus database.” Hladik said. “What excites me is that one day they may be told how long it will take to completely eliminate HIV.”

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