Expert: Florence M Rollwagen - 1/8/2009

Question
I was wondering if it was possible to cure the aids virus using a certain  amount of steroid into the white blood cells and give the patient a white blood cell producing disease that could cause the white blood cells to react abnormally and attack all foreign agents even those enzymes that can allow the aids virus into the genetic coded sequence.  

Answer
Hi Joe:  Thanks for your question.

Injected steroids distribute themselves throughout the body, without accumulating in white blood cells, so getting a high dose in the cells would be difficult without compromising the rest of the body.  Besides, steroids don't kill viruses.

The problem with the AIDS virus (HIV) is that its nucleic acid (RNA to DNA) produces DNA which can hide in the DNA of the host cell.  This makes it impossible to distinguish from the host DNA.  The virus becomes active again when the host cell divides in response to another infection.

One of the major drugs now in use by clinicians against HIV targets this enzyme, reverse transcriptase, to slow or halt the conversion of RNA to DNA.  

Here is more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV

Hope this helps.

FM Rollwagen, PhD