HIV drugs could help MS patients

Drugs used to treat HIV could potentially be used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) in the future, experts have said after research showed that people with the virus have a lower MS risk.

Researchers said that chronic dampening down of the immune system as a result of HIV or the anti-retroviral drugs used to treat it could be the reason behind the lowered risk.

The MS Society said while much more research is needed, the study shows that antiretrovirals could be a potential future option for treatment for MS.

Researchers examined more than 21,000 HIV-positive patients treated in hospitals in England between 1999 and 2011 and compared them to more than five million control subjects.

Their study, published in the Journal Of Neurology Neurosurgery And Psychiatry, found that those with HIV were 62% less likely to develop MS.

The authors wrote: HIV infection is associated with a significantly decreased risk of developing MS.

Mechanisms of this observed possibly protective association may include immunosuppression induced by chronic HIV infection and antiretroviral medications.

Commenting on the study, Emma Gray, research communications manager at the MS Society, said: We know that people with MS want new, effective treatments and this study provides some encouragement.

Clinical trials are the only way to determine this and the good news is there is a London-based trial ongoing which is aimed at testing one such drug.

Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

Read the original here:
HIV drugs could help MS patients