HIV treatment drugs can damage cells in the body

The most common drug used is nucleoside analogue reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), which can damage cells over a lengthy period of treatment, reveal scientists.

In some parts of the world, mainly in Europe and North America, the drug’s use has diminished because of its toxicity and the side effects that come as a result. But, in places such as Africa cheap NRTIs are the only option available.

The research was carried out in the University of Newcastle and involved looking into muscle cells of HIV-infected adults who had used NRTIs as a method of treatment. It was discovered that those treated with the drug had severely damaged mitochondria - a “powerplant” within cells that supply them with energy.

Professor Patrick Chinnery, who led the research, said, ‘The DNA in our mitochondria gets copied throughout our lifetimes and, as we age, naturally accumulates errors. So over the space of, say, 10 years, a person’s mitochondrial DNA may have accumulated the same amount of errors as a person who has naturally aged 20 or 30 years.

‘What is surprising, though, is that patients who came off the medication many years ago may still be vulnerable to these changes.’

By James Massoud