Why Novel Nanoparticle-based Delivery Platforms Hold Key for HIV/AIDS Treatment and Prevention?
The administration of highly active antiretroviral therapy to HIV/AIDS
patients has greatly reduced their morbidity and mortality. However, HAART regimens have
myriad of limitations, which make it difficult to completely eradicate HIV/AIDS from the body.
Cells harboring latent HIV reside in restricted areas in the body: cellular and anatomical
reservoirs. The residing of HIV in these restricted sanctuaries makes HAART regimens
incapable of completely eliminating HIV from the body. In addition, HAART regimens have to be
taken for a lifetime making AIDS patients develop resistance to the drugs.
When HIV/AIDS patients take HAART regimens overtime, the drugs result in side effects,
such as drug toxicities and treatment fatigue. The development of nanotechnology has revolutionized
medicine today. Nanotechnology have the potential to mitigate the challenges that doctors and scientists
are facing with the current treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. In this review, I discuss the
challenges of HAART regimens and how the novel nanoparticle-based delivery platforms can
be advanced for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
Complete eradication of HIV from the body with current HIV regimens is becoming a
nightmare to scientists. Memory CD4+ T cells and macrophages act as latent reservoirs for HIV
with the later serving as a host for viral genetic recombination producing an elusive mutant
viral genotypes.
In addition, cells harboring latent HIV reside in restricted parts of the body.
These cells are highly concentrated in specific anatomical sites: secondary lymphoid tissues,
testes, liver, kidney, lungs, gut and CNS.
Taking the current HIV regimens overtime result in side effects that are
detrimental to HIV/AIDS patients: drug toxicity, treatment fatigue, drug-drug interaction.
HIV/AIDS Res Treat Open J. 2015; 2(3): 81-85. doi: 10.17140/HARTOJ-2-113
