AIDS研究展望

路克·蒙塔尼埃教授，艾滋病病毒发现者



Prospects in AIDS Research 2006
Dr. Luc Montagnier

Since the discovery of HIV,the causative agent of AIDS ,important advances in this field have been made:prevention of the transmission of the agent by blood transfusion and blood products- thanks to reliable tests of HIV infection-implementation of rational prevention measures against the transmission by sexual contacts and drug abuse.And,since 1996 clinical use of a combination of specific inhibitous active on the virus multiplication,reverse transcriptase and protease inhibitors.The advent of this triple therapy has changed the status of HIV infection from a deadly disease,decreasing by 90% the risk of death by opportunistic infections and cancers.
However,important problems are still acute:

1)This treatment does not cure the infection and,so far,has to be given lifelong.Side effects and risks of emergence of resistant mutants are high in the long term of use of these drugs.

2)It has not yet been made available to all patients of the developing world.cost and difficulty of implementation in these countries are limiting factors of their expansion.

3)Prevention by information and education has a limited impact,since no treatment is proposed at the onset of HIV infection,and therefore,there is no incitement for HIV testing.Only a minor fraction of asymptomatic HIV infected patients know that they are HIV positive and are responsibilized for avoiding the transmission of the virus.

4)No medical ways of prevention have been successful so far. As a result,despite many efforts at the national and international level,the epidemic is still spreading and can make the bed to the re-emergence of other infectious agents.Resrarch efforts must be directed at finding new ways of treatments which could complement the trement presently in use:antioxidants,immunostimulants and therapeutic vaccines.Preventive vaccines using the native surface protein of HIV have failed.Genetically made changes of the conformation of this protein.exposing to the immune system its more conserved parts,are more promising.