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Immunodeficiency/AIDS Clinic |
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Immunodeficiency/AIDS Clinic |
| DNCB - "It's the Cheap Stuff, Stupid!"
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| The worldwide fight against AIDS has been a disaster. After almost
20 years of battling with the HIV epidemic, our only major accomplishment has been the
development of effective antibiotics to treat the infections associated with AIDS. Highly
active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is only a stop-gap measure, and the AIDS vaccine
program is a global shambles. How did we get here, and what needs to be done? The way we got here was via a misguided concept. That concept is embodied in the now-classic phrase, "It's the virus, stupid!". The major scientific effort in combating HIV disease has focused on ways to kill the AIDS virus. This approach has not worked because we do not have the technical skill to destroy an intracellular virus such as HIV. Thus HAART is doomed to fail in the long run, genetic engineering is at least 10 years away, and baboon bone marrow transplants are pie in the sky. And people continue to die of AIDS every day. A more logical approach to HIV disease is based on the not-yet-classic phrase, "It's the host response to the virus, stupid!". The implication of this phrase is that the human immune system, and cellular immunity in particular, is the key to fighting AIDS. Antiretroviral drugs cannot boost the cellular immune response for any appreciable time. We need drugs that goad the human immune system into action against HIV, especially in places like skin and lymph nodes where the virus likes to hide. How do we approach this task? The most widely used immune booster is a simple chemical compound called dinitrochlorobenzene, or DNCB. DNCB has been used as a color photography developer for many years. When applied to the skin, DNCB causes a type of allergic reaction known as DTH (delayed-type hypersensitivity). The DTH reaction resembles the skin response to poison ivy or poison oak. Curiously, this localized skin reaction is accompanied by a systemic immune response (particularly in lymph nodes) that stimulates the cells that fight HIV. Regular DNCB application on a weekly basis creates a persistent cellular immune activation that controls HIV disease. Best of all, the treatment costs about 25 cents per week. Why isn't DNCB used by the medical establishment around the world? For one thing, DNCB is so cheap that no pharmaceutical company could profit from its use. This unfortunate fact has hindered DNCB's development as a commercial AIDS treatment. Another problem is that DNCB does not directly kill HIV. Instead it works by boosting the human immune system, and this concept is not easily accepted by virologists who are desperately looking for HIV-directed drugs to fight AIDS. A third problem is that DNCB is not a pill or an injection. It is a liquid that has to be rubbed on the skin, and this treatment approach, although common in primitive societies, does not conform with the standard guidelines of Western medicine. In spite of these problems, DNCB represents a logical approach to the treatment of HIV infection. It is certainly not a cure for AIDS, but neither is HAART or baboon bone marrow. And DNCB is easier to use and much, much cheaper. Perhaps the medical establishment will come up with a more sophisticated way to boost the immune response against HIV. Until then, DNCB offers a rational and accessible way to treat AIDS around the world. |
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