September 29, 2008

Anti-Obesity Meds May Also Have Anti-HIV Benefits

Anti-obesity medications may be a new weapon in the arsenal to fight HIV, according to laboratory findings published in the October issue of Nature Biotechnology. While a great deal of research is still needed, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York State and Princeton University authors, these drugs appear to block certain components of cellular metabolism and, as a result, may inhibit viral infections such as HIV, influenza and hepatitis from proliferating in the human body.

When HIV and other viruses enter the body, Rochester’s Joshua Munger, PhD, and his colleagues explain, they increase cellular metabolism—the breakdown of nutrients to produce energy—so that more fatty acids are produced. Viruses use these fatty acids to build their viral envelopes, outer coatings that help them penetrate human cells.

The researchers used drugs that treat obesity and high cholesterol by inhibiting enzymes that build fatty acids—orlistat (Xenical) is one such approved enzyme inhibitor. They hoped to prove that virus-induced fatty acid production was necessary for viruses to make copies of themselves and that these medications greatly reduced viral replication when mixed with infected cells. Initial experiments were conducted using cytomegalovirus but were repeated using influenza A—viruses that, like HIV, use fatty acids to build their viral envelopes.

Although Munger and his colleagues are optimistic about their findings, they stress that “extensive clinical testing would be needed to draw conclusions about the safety of [anti-obesity medications], or similar compounds, as antiviral treatment.”

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