Chinese AIDS specialists plan to test a wide range of traditional Chinese
herbs in conjunction with low cost anti-retroviral combinations such as
didanosine and hydroxyurea, in order to come up with affordable regimens for use
in China and other developing countries.
Dr Zhao Wenli of China's National Center for AIDS Prevention and Control told
www.aidsmap.com that Chinese researchers have already tested 23 substances which
exhibit positive effects on CD4 cell proliferation and interleukin-2 production,
but none of the compounds has had any significant anti-HIV effect in the test
tube. No data from these studies has been published yet.
Genetically engineered forms of interleukin-2 are already being tested in
several international studies to see whether IL-2 can improve the quantity and
quality of CD4 cells, which protect the body against many infections.
After a month spent in the UK studying the management of anti-retroviral
treatment and viral load testing, Dr Zhao Wenli and colleagues will return to
China to investigate affordable ways of treating HIV.
"We estimate 300,000 people in China are already infected due largely to
injecting drug use. At the moment we can only treat opportunistic infections,
but we shall be recommending to the Chinese government that we use the newest
methods".
Chinese scientists have already explored the use of Chinese herbs as
immunostimulants to complement cancer chemotherapy, or for use after cancer
surgery, with positive results, said Dr Zhao. Unfortunately much of the data is
untranslated and unknown outside China.
Chinese researchers are also planning to investigate methods of enhancing
phosphorylation and cellular levels of anti-retrovirals in order to reduce the
doses used, or to reduce the number of drugs used in HIV treatment.