Using bee venom to prevent HIV

By now, most people have already heard the news about the baby in Mississippi that was cured of HIV shortly after being born.  Next in this scientific struggle to undermine the disease permanently is a development that may help us prevent its spread in the future.  Apparently, some researchers over at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have made promising advances in using bee venom to curb the disease.

The main ingredient that scientists are looking at is called a cytolyic melittin peptide.  These peptides happen to possess the interesting ability to tear down the envelope that the HIV virus uses to protect itself.  Enough melittin and HIV can’t survive.  By infusing the melittin into nanoparticles, they were able to protect other cells from being harmed while the virus, which is much smaller, met its end.

The strength of this new method comes mainly from the fact that since it directly and physically attacks HIV, there is no way for the disease to build up an immunity to the treatment - a common problem for things like antibiotics.  If it can be refined, tested and proven to work, we may be looking toward a permanent cure.

The immediate goal is to use the melittin-loaded nanoparticles in a vaginal gel, and based on the way the process works so far, scientists are hoping to replicate a similar process in combating other diseases.  With enough time and research, this could potentially lead to a contraceptive gel that effectively blocks out all sexually transmitted diseases.  They also hope to adapt this HIV-killer to an intravenous format, thus leading to a treatment option for those already infected.

Like small pox and many other diseases before it, HIV is on its way out.  It was only a matter of time before scientists narrowed down a way to remove this killer from our midst.  Considering that tens-of-millions of people are currently infected, this could be the live-saver the world is looking for.

Bee photo courtesy of Waugsberg via Wikicommons