There is a dramatic request, coming from many developing countries, for drugs
displaying anti-HIV properties. Owing to its extremely low cost, hloroquine
may prove an interesting candidate. In addition to its antimalarial and immunomodulating
properties, chloroquine has proved to have a significant anti-HIV effect.
It is interesting to note that chloroquine inhibits replication of HIV-1 at
concentrations detectable in the plasma of subjects who are chronically treated
with drug doses displaying limited and adequately analysed toxicity. These
effects have been confirmed in vivo through two clinical trials. The chief
inhibition mechanism brought about by chloroquine on the HIV virus appears
to be an effect on the formation of gp120, the glycoprotein used by the HIV
virus to cling to the target cells, lymphocytes and monocytes. Since this
is a new action mechanism, this drug may prove particularly useful in combination
with antiretroviral agents, which act on the other phases of HIV replication.
Chloroquine may therefore represent an interesting possibility for the treatment
of patients affected by HIV infection in developing countries.
