Can Valproic Acid Help Deplete Latent Reservoirs of HIV?

Although antiretroviral therapy leads to rapid reductions in viral load, eradication of HIV is considered impossible because certain resting memory cells persist for decades with integrated HIV. When therapy is stopped, these cells can quickly lead to the reestablishment of an actively replicating plasma virus pool. This so-called “latent reservoir” has been notoriously difficult to attack, almost obliterating any hope of cure in patients with established infection. Latency of integrated HIV is partially controlled by the activity of the chromatin-remodeling enzyme, histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1). In a proof-of-concept study, investigators evaluated whether a known inhibitor of HDAC1 — valproic acid — could help clear HIV from resting CD4 ce…