About AIDS

It's been the plot of books and movies, both fiction and non-fiction: mysterious jungle plant used by witch doctor cures dreaded disease, but evil men are intent on destroying the jungle for quick profit. Recently, this scenario has had added meaning for people with HIV.

Compounds extracted from plants used by Bolivian shamans to treat illness seem to inhibit HIV's activity in cells, at least in the test tube. Could they be developed into AIDS drugs?

Several years ago, anthropology professor Dr. Joseph Bastien of UT-Arlington brought back 60 plants from the pharmacopoeia of Bolivia's Kallawaya shamans. From these plants, biochemists at TCU and UC-Irvine extracted chemicals which they tested against various diseases, including HIV. From the most promising substances, they synthesized seven artificial versions, or analogs, which in lab experiments seem to inhibit the action of an HIV enzyme called integrase. HIV uses integrase to integrate its genetic material into the DNA of the CD4/T4 cell it has just infected. Without integrase functioning properly, the HIV cannot reproduce.

Reporting in the Journal of Medicine Therapy, the researchers reflect significant optimism about the in vitro testing, including the suggestion that an anti-integrase drug might not be as toxic as some of the other medicines currently in use. They hope to start human trials within two years.

Now if we can just keep the jungles from being demolished before we have a chance to explore the pharmacological properties of their leafy denizens É