HEALTH: RESEARCHERS AIM TO ERADICATE HIV BY TARGETING HIDDEN VIRAL RESERVOIRS

Dr. Betty Mwesigwa explaining the their research study while Dr. Mugerwa Henry is looking on

URN

In a bid to find a cure for HIV, researchers have embarked on a study aimed at eradicating the virus from specific body reservoirs where it hides. Dr. Betty Mwesigwa, a researcher and Deputy Director of the Makerere University Walter Reed Project addressed health journalists during a Science Media Café organized by the Health Journalists Network Uganda (HEJNU). She explained that there is still much to learn about HIV, as it is notorious for its ability to change.

Dr. Mwesigwa stated that even when individuals are on medication, the virus can hide in certain parts of the body, including brain cells, lymph nodes, and the liver. These reservoirs present challenges for treatment and eradication, as they can shield HIV from antiretroviral drugs.

The research agenda by the Makerere University Walter Reed Project, along with global scientific efforts, aims to target this hidden virus and find ways to eradicate it or render it dormant permanently, preventing any chance of reactivation and subsequent infection.

The National Institutes of Health in the USA is funding significant HIV cure research worldwide, with ten collaborations focused on finding a cure in children, adults, and adolescents. Mwesigwa highlighted that their project is part of a collaboration called HIV Obstruction by Programmed Epigenetics (HOPE), which seeks to block the dormant virus, lock it in place, and explore methods for its elimination. Mwesigwa noted that it has been four years since the collaborative project launched, during which various issues have been examined, though it remains a work in progress.

Dr. Henry Mugerwa, Director of Research at the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC), emphasized that HIV is not yet curable due to its adeptness at survival and self-preservation, which complicates efforts to develop a cure. While antiretroviral therapy (ART) can eliminate the virus from the blood, it still hides in reservoirs where medications cannot reach. When a person with HIV stops their medication, the virus can re-enter the bloodstream and multiply, making eradication difficult.

“In the blood, we have won that battle; it can be killed when one is on medication consistently, but we have not won the war because it still hides in the reservoirs, where it can reinfect the blood when the medication stops,” Mugerwa explained. He added that at JCRC, they are working on developing a vaccine to prevent HIV acquisition, though challenges remain due to the virus’s rapid mutation.

Mugerwa stated they are closely monitoring the virus's changes in hopes of a breakthrough.

Moses Nsubuga, also known as "Super Charger," who has lived with HIV for 35 years, mentioned that at JCRC, they are developing a study to repair the cells of infected individuals to make them resistant to HIV. He revealed that the ex vivo gene therapy study is set to be tested on him as part of the pursuit of an HIV cure.