For Immediate Release
Chloroquine Has Only Limited Effect on HIV-Induced Immune Activation
Contact: Kathryn Ryan
914-740-2250
kryan@liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, August 4, 2016—A new study designed to assess the ability of chloroquine, a Toll-like receptor inhibitor, to reduce immune system activation and inflammation caused by chronic HIV infection showed chloroquine to be only somewhat effective. The modest reduction in immune activation seen in HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) would be unlikely to produce substantial clinical benefit, conclude the researchers in an article in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses website until September 4, 2016.
Jeffrey Jacobson and a team of coauthors representing the AIDS Clinical Trial Group A5258 Protocol Team describe the study design and interpret the results in the article entitled “The Effect of Chloroquine on Immune Activation and Interferon Signatures Associated with HIV-1.” The researchers treated two groups of HIV-infected patients—those on or off ART—with either 250 mg oral chloroquine or placebo for 12 weeks in a crossover study design.
“In order to develop effective treatments for HIV, it is just as important to determine what does not work,” says Thomas Hope, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses and Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL). “These negative results redirect research efforts to develop alternative approaches that could be effective for controlling the immune activation associated with HIV-induced disease.”
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under Award Numbers UM1 AI068634, AI068636, AI76174, AI36219, and UM1 AI106701, and National Institutes of Health AIDS Clinical Trial Group Site Grants. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About the Journal
AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, published monthly online with open access options and in print, presents papers, reviews, and case studies documenting the latest developments and research advances in the molecular biology of HIV and SIV and innovative approaches to HIV vaccine and therapeutic drug research, including the development of antiretroviral agents and immune-restorative therapies. Content also explores the molecular and cellular basis of HIV pathogenesis and HIV/HTLV epidemiology. The Journal features rapid publication of emerging sequence information, reports on clinical trials of emerging HIV therapies, and images in HIV research. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including AIDS Patient Care and STDs, Viral Immunology, and Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.