美国研究人员发现对抗HIV的新方法

kingburg

美国研究人员发现对抗HIV的新方法

U of M Researchers Discover New Method to Combat HIV
Tactic could replace cocktail approach

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (July 23, 2007) — Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Drug Design have developed a new method to combat HIV/AIDS, potentially replacing the traditional cocktail drug approach.

The new approach – proven accurate in lab tests – merges the features of two antiviral agents into one drug, achieving the same effect as when two or more drugs are taken separately. The cocktail approach most commonly prescribed to HIV-infected patients is expensive and high in toxicity because many drugs are taken at one time.

The researchers named the new concept Portmanteau Inhibitors, and the results were published in a July 4 issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. The principal researcher is Robert Vince, Ph.D., director of the center and a professor of medicinal chemistry in the College of Pharmacy.

“It’s one drug that does the same thing as two independent drugs would do,” Vince said. “It’s a new approach in HIV/AIDS treatment.”

Besides remedying cost and toxicity problems, a Portmanteau Inhibitor is less likely to develop resistance from the virus because of its multifaceted approach. Most importantly, research found that the separate components of the drug did not interfere with each other while attacking HIV.

“One drug is not durable. It develops resistance very quickly,” said Zhenqiang Wang, Ph.D., a researcher in the Center for Drug Design, and co-investigator of the research. “This makes it much more difficult for resistance to develop.”

The next step will be more research and testing to see how the drug reacts once distributed in the body. But, preliminary research and confirmation of the new concept shows promise because the quality of life for AIDS patients hinges on low costing medication and minimal side effects, Wang said.

“It’s huge,” he said. “This concept could lead to a replacement for the cocktail treatment.”

明尼苏达州大学研究人员发现新的对抗艾滋病疗法
新方法或许可以取代鸡尾酒疗法

明尼波立斯 圣-保罗 （2007.7.23）
明尼苏达州药物设计中心的研究人员发现了一种新型的艾滋病疗法，或许可以替代传统的鸡尾酒疗法。

这个在实验室研究中获得成功的疗法，把两种抗病毒药物混合制成一个药，但得到的疗效和两种或两种以上药物分别服用所取得的疗效一样。而传统的鸡尾酒疗法因为通常要给感染者同时服用多种药物，价格昂贵且毒性较大。

研究人员将这一新疗法命名为Portmanteau抑制者，详细实验结果会在七月四日一期的《药物化学》杂志公布。该研究的首席研究人员是Robert Vince博士，他是该中心主任兼药学院药化教授。

Vince博士说，“这是一个药，但表现和两个药合用一样出色。这是一种治疗艾滋病的新型疗法。”

除了花费更低和更安全以外，由于集多种治疗机制于一身，Portmanteau抑制者似乎也能避免诱导艾滋病毒产生耐药性。最重要的是，研究人员发现这种新药的几个主要成分在抗艾滋病的同时，相互之间不会发生相互反应。

药物设计中心的一名研究者，也是该研究的共同研究人员Zhenqiang Wang博士说，“一个（抗病毒药）无法持久起效，因为很快会产生耐药性。而我们的新药将抑制这种耐药性的产生。
下一步的工作是进行更多的研究，并且观察药物分布到体内之后是如何起作用的。但是，初步的研究结果和新疗法的提出为艾滋病人提供了降低费用和减少副作用‘双重’实惠，预示了该疗法的良好前景。”