According to the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the drug minocycline has more than one use. It has been prescribed for years to treat acne. Now researchers have found that it can prevent the breakout of HIV into full blown AIDS.
Janice Clements, Ph.D., is Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs, vice dean for faculty, and professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She says, "The powerful advantage to using minocycline is that the virus appears less able to develop drug resistance because minocycline targets cellular pathways not viral proteins."
Clements also adds, "The big challenge clinicians deal with now in this country when treating HIV patients is keeping the virus locked in a dormant state. While HAART is really effective in keeping down active replication, minocycline is another arm of defense against the virus."
More research is required to confirm the results achieved in this new study.
According to medicalnewstoday.com, this drug likely will improve on the current treatment regimens of HIV-infected patients if used in combination with a standard drug cocktail known as HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy).