AEGiS-GMHC: Nevirapine Protects Chimpanzees Gay Men's Health CrisisImportant note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Nevirapine Protects Chimpanzees

Treatment Issues, Vol 11, No 2; February 1997
Gabriel Torres, M.D.

A study presented by Boeringher Ingelheim at the Retrovirus Conference (abstract 728) evaluated the protective effect of the company's NNRTI nevirapine (Viramune) in chimpanzees. Chimps are the only other primate that can be infected with HIV-1, although it does not make them ill. The experiment involved four chimpanzees. One untreated animal was challenged with an intravenous injection of HIV-1 and observed to seroconvert (start producing HIV antibodies). Virus was detected in its blood. The other chimpanzees received high doses of nevirapine (800 mg) at either six hours, 12 and 36 hours, or 12, 24 and 36 hours pre-challenge. Treatment continued for 10 or 20 days post-challenge.

None of the treated chimpanzees seroconverted. After five to six months, no sign of HIV could be found in their lymph nodes. All remained negative for all viral load markers with the exception of proviral HIV DNA within infected cells. That DNA, measured with a PCR assay, subsided and became undetectable for the three treated chimpanzees one to two years after exposure to HIV. It persisted the longest in the least treated chimp.

This experiment indicates that nevirapine can abort infection in the chimpanzee model of HIV infection. It has obvious implications for preventing HIV transmission in humans.


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Copyright © 1997 - Treatment Issues. Reproduced with permission. Treatment Issues is published twelve times yearly by GMHC, Inc. All rights reserved. Noncommercial reproduction is encouraged. Subscription lists are kept confidential. GMHC Treatment Issues, The Tisch Building, 119 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10011  fredg@gmhc.org  http://www.gmhc.org

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