The virus that causes AIDS, HIV, kills two million people each year in the world. Mosquito-borne parasite, malaria infects 225 million people and killed 781 thousand per year.
These diseases attack humans since it first spread to humans from monkeys 40 years ago. Later, these diseases become human and mortal enemy of the human body has evolved to combat it.
Both of these killers, new and old, it actually has the same molecule. Because of this, a 'super drug' will be able to fight these diseases. The drug is, the HIV Protease Inhibitor (PI HIV). The drug is designed specifically to treat HIV scientist to prevent the deadly virus to build the protein properly.
"HIV protease inhibitors currently in clinical use and is the leading HIV drug," said Chief Photini Sinnis Parasitology Laboratory Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. This drug has changed the face of HIV treatment in recent years. People who are no longer taking the drug died of AIDS.
Proteases are enzymes that can cut the protein into the correct shape, it allows it to become active. HIV protease inhibitors stop the HIV virus on track by preventing one of the protease enzyme does its job.
Without the work of protease, HIV proteins will not be truncated and not active. As a result, the unit of HIV called virion can not collect them to make new virions. The human body has a natural mechanism to prevent HIV virions kill viruses replicate themselves at a level that can not handle the body.
Over the last few years, several research groups (including groups Sinnis) has noticed a surprising positive side effects of HIV-specific protease. "We found that these drugs have anti-malarial properties," said Sinnis.
Researchers believe, HIV protease inhibitor to stop the emergence of proteases in malaria parasites as they do on the HIV protease. Sinnis groups found, these anti-HIV drugs to prevent parasite replication in mice.
There are no trials in humans, but early results in mice to make HIV researchers advocate the exclusive use of protease inhibitors for HIV treatment in Africa. "In Africa, HIV and malaria, many of which overlap, HIV drugs used should be the PI," said Sinnis.
After that, these drugs will provide additional benefits to existing malaria infections, namely by blocking it. Currently, the PI is only useful for fighting malaria in people who have HIV. PI is more toxic than many drugs used to combat malaria itself.
However, if the PI can be adjusted to be less toxic, these drugs can be a single cure malaria. When that happens, this drug will become a weapon. Because the malaria itself quickly develop resistance to anti-malarial drugs available, so new drugs are always desperately needed.
Even so, to develop anti-malarial drugs that can stand alone based on anti-HIV drugs, protease-specific target in the malaria first HIV protease inhibitor to be discovered. "If we can find a target protease, we can design better drugs and of course without poison," said Sinnis.
So far, scientists have narrowed the class of proteases that may contain protease targets but they have not found a specific protease. However, a paper in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), Colin Berry and colleagues at Cardiff University in Wales found that inhibited HIV protease inhibitor protease in the parasite Leishmania, malaria relatives.
Although proteases called a DDI has not been identified in malaria, the Berry and are confident that this protease sought. "Our results show, HIV target proteins merupaka Ddi1 (PI), and shows Ddi1 Leishmania as a potential target of antiparasitic therapy," Berry.
"Through identification of these proteins, we hope to exploit the weakness of this parasite to develop effective new therapies to combat diseases that are dangerous," he continued.
According Sinnis, papers Berry gives hope and ideas for finding targets the malaria parasite. When found, the anti-HIV and anti-malaria can be done.
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