Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Newsday - July 26, 1988
Laurie Garrett
Addressing the second international Gay and Lesbian Health Conference in Boston yesterday, Groopman detailed recent development of a "decoy drug" that shows long-term promise in the fight against AIDS. The drug fools the AIDS virus and might prevent infection of cells of the human immune system.
The drug, rCD4, is a genetically engineered copy of the CD4 receptor found on the surface of many cells of the human immune system and brain. When the AIDS virus infects a person, it attaches itself to CD4 receptors to gain entry to cells, causing disease. AIDS researchers generally believe that the AIDS virus is unable to infect cells that lack a CD4 receptor.
Laboratory studies have shown that rCD4 acts as a decoy, latching onto the AIDS virus and saturating all of the virus in the bloodstream. These combined rCD4s and viruses could then be safely removed.
Yesterday Groopman announced that laboratory tests of rCD4 are promising. In test tubes, it provides 100 percent protection for cells of the immune system. Animal tests have found no obvious harmful effects.
But the effectiveness of the drug is short-lived. In its current form, patients would have to be on intravenous drips, receiving the drug around the clock, to benefit.
In trials set to begin next month at the Boston hospital, people with acquired immune deficiency syndrome will receive a round of continuously dripped rCD4 to see what side effects, if any, it might have in people. Groopman hopes even a single round of therapy will show some beneficial effects.
"A major potential limitation of this drug," Groopman says, "is that it cannot get into the brain in its current form." That means the drug would not benefit patients suffering from dementia. Groopman's group is trying to further modify the rCD4 drug, attaching carriers that will allow it to cross into the brain.
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