Study of Valproic Acid to Treat HIV Infected Adults

Summary

A histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor is a class of drug that interferes with the function of HDAC, an enzyme that hides HIV within inactive CD4 cells. These drugs are normally used to treat seizures and other nervous system problems but have been found to work against HIV. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of valproic acid (VPA), an HDAC inhibitor, in treating HIV infected adults using anti-HIV drugs.

Timeline

Start

2006-06

Primary completion

2009-04

Completion

2009-10

Publications

• Background Jiang G, Espeseth A, Hazuda DJ, Margolis DM. c-Myc and Sp1 contribute to proviral latency by recruiting histone deacetylase 1 to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 promoter. J Virol. 2007 Oct;81(20):10914-23. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01208-07. Epub 2007 Aug 1.
• Background Siliciano JD, Lai J, Callender M, Pitt E, Zhang H, Margolick JB, Gallant JE, Cofrancesco J Jr, Moore RD, Gange SJ, Siliciano RF. Stability of the latent reservoir for HIV-1 in patients receiving valproic acid. J Infect Dis. 2007 Mar 15;195(6):833-6. doi: 10.1086/511823. Epub 2007 Jan 30.
• Background Smith SM. Valproic acid and HIV-1 latency: beyond the sound bite. Retrovirology. 2005 Sep 19;2:56. doi: 10.1186/1742-4690-2-56.

Drugs

Indications