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Figure 1. Schematic representation of various nanotechnology platforms that can be used in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
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Figure 2. Mechanism for siRNA-based gene therapy of HIV/AIDS. The siRNA acts by degrading mRNA in at least two major ways: (A) Inhibit entry and fusion by interfering with production of receptors or co-receptors and (B) interfere with translation and transcription of viral genes preventing production of proteins and genomic RNA. (The viral entry and replication stages shown here are also the targets for the antiretroviral drugs discussed above [29] ).
(Figure omitted. See article PDF.)
The emergence of AIDS was first reported in 1981 followed by the identification of HIV as the cause of the disease in 1983 [1-4]. HIV/AIDS is now a global pandemic that has become the leading infectious killer of adults worldwide [5]. By 2006, more than 65 million people had been infected with the HIV virus worldwide and 25 million had died of AIDS [6]. At the end of 2007, around 33 million people were living with the virus, with 2.7 million new infections and 2 million deaths each year [7]. This has caused tremendous social and economic damage worldwide, with developing countries, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, heavily affected.
A cure for HIV/AIDS has been elusive in almost 30 years of research. Early treatments focused on antiretroviral drugs that were effective only to a certain degree. The first drug, zidovudine, was approved by the US FDA in 1987, leading to the approval of a total of 25 drugs to date, many of which are also available in fixed-dose combinations and generic formulations for use in resource-limited settings (to date, only zidovudine and didanosine are available as true generics in the USA) [8,9]. However, it was the advent of a class of drugs known as protease inhibitors and the introduction of triple-drug therapy in the mid-1990s that revolutionized HIV/AIDS treatment [10,11]. This launched the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), where a combination of three or more different classes of drugs are administered simultaneously [11]. The use of the HAART regimen, particularly in the developed world, has resulted in tremendous success in improving the expectancy and quality of lives for patients [12]. However, some HAART regimens have serious...