Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York report they have found a key to controlling the HIV infection.
That key, they say, is alpha-defensin-1, a protein found in immune cells, that can control HIV, which can lead to AIDS by at least two mechanisms. Earlier studies have primarily looked at the role of defensins in bacterial diseases. A study published in the March 1 edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation examines their role as natural antiviral substances.
Dr. Theresa Chang and colleagues at Mount Sinai analyzed how alpha-defensin-1 inhibits HIV infection in white blood cells in the study. Defensins have been shown to have anti-HIV activity.
“Understanding the mechanism by which natural host defenses work against viruses such as HIV will give us insight into understanding the host virus relationship,” says Chang, first author of the study. “This study suggests they may be quite important not only to HIV but to other viral infections.”