MK-0518: New drug for HIV treatment

A new anti-HIV drug is still in the experimental cycle but promises positive results: The average reduction of 98% of HIV viral RNA in the blood. By suppressing an enzyme necessary for self-replication to reproduce the HIV virus, the new drug works similarly to existing HIV medications.

The British medical journal, The Lancet, said patients who had been tested on one of the new drugs called Raltegravir (MK-0518) all exhibited significant progress.

HIV, looked through an electron microscope
(Photo: Helpaids.it)

Scientists are hoping that this new drug could solve the problem of treatment: The ability to resist HIV virus.

All 178 end-stage HIV patients in this study received regular HIV medicines for 10 years but were not effective. During 24 weeks of new drug therapy, HIV-infected people used conventional HIV drugs plus a new drug, Raltegravir or some common drug (mainly for calming patients rather than curing them). sick).

Test results showed that, during the above period, the average Raltegravir users reduced 98% of the viral RNA of the HIV virus, and the above-mentioned group usually reduced only 45%.

The number of CD4 cell types, which express the body's resistance, also increased significantly in patients taking the new drug Raltegravir. And this drug works quite well for most patients.

A recent study found that resistance to HIV treatment is becoming increasingly common. For every 10 people with HIV in the UK, more than 1 person has demonstrated resistance to at least one drug at some level, even before they start treatment.

Manh Duc