The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Burnham Institute for Medical Research today announced 295 host cell factors that are involved in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

A major study from a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and Massachusetts General Hospital has found that a recent change to HIV-treatment guidelines recommending genetic screening is cost-effective under certain conditions.

A surprising interaction may enable development of new HIV treatment strategies by exploiting infection with multiple pathogens. The research, published by Cell Press in the September 11th issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe, demonstrates that a drug commonly used to treat herpes directly suppresses HIV in coinfected tissues and thus may be beneficial for patients infected with both viruses.

The links between HIV transmission and the degree to which people are able to adopt realistic plans to achieve future projects, in other words, hope, have been overlooked in policies to tackle HIV/AIDS. New research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) argues that hope is a powerful tool in the battle to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Hopes languished last September when a promising candidate HIV vaccine failed to work. Despite this setback, many researchers still believe immunization is possible, and a new study suggests they're correct—at least at the cellular level.

University of Minnesota researchers have answered a key question as to why antiretroviral therapy isn't effective in restoring immunity in HIV-infected patients.

Argos Therapeutics and Université de Montréal today announced the presentation of new information on Argos'process for developing dendritic cell-based immunotherapies for HIV.

Patients receiving rifampicin-based anti-tuberculosis therapy are more likely to experience virological failure when starting nevirapine-based antiretroviral therapy, an HIV treatment that is widely used in developing countries because of lower cost, than when starting efavirenz-based antiretroviral therapy, according to a study in the August 6 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

Low-dose growth hormone treatment reduced abdominal fat deposits and improved blood pressure and triglyceride levels in a group of patients with HIV lipodystrophy, a condition involving the redistribution of fat and other metabolic changes in patients receiving combination drug therapy for HIV infection.

On the eve of the International AIDS Conference, which begins in Mexico City Sunday, researchers at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston claim to have discovered a way to destroy the HIV virus that causes AIDS. If their hopes are confirmed in further tests, it could represent a major breakthrough in fighting the deadly disease. But, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, much work needs to be done to test the theory.

With tens of thousands due to gather in Mexico City Aug. 3 for the 2008 International AIDS Conference, the journal AIDS has published a special supplement that provides concrete recommendations for addressing the complex social and economic issues that fuel HIV.

Millions of people world-wide who have contracted a highly resistant strain of HIV could benefit from a new drug to treat the infection, according to UNSW research.