A combination of antibodies and multiple virus-activating drugs can keep HIV from resurging in infected mice, even after treatment ends.

During drug treatment, HIV enters a dormant state and stays hidden inside infected cells; afterwards, it bounces back. A team led by Michel Nussenzweig at the Rockefeller University in New York tested a combination of neutralizing antibodies and three drugs that activate dormant HIV so it is no longer hidden. After the treatment was given to HIV-infected mice, 57% were protected from virus resurgence, whereas no significant effects were seen in mice treated with antibodies plus only one inducer or with antibodies alone.

Such drug combinations could reduce the reservoir of HIV-infected immune cells, a key step towards curing the disease, the authors say.

Cell http://doi.org/t7w (2014)