Researchers say HIV drug can be used to fight dry AMD

Researchers from Cardiff University and the University of Kentucky have collaborated on a paper in the journal Science which suggests a drug most commonly used to fight HIV/AIDS could be used to help the sufferers of dry age-related macular degeneration.

The study shows that Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs), originally developed to fight cancer but more recently repurposed to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS can be used to treat age-related macular degeneration and other inflammatory disorders.

Dr Mark Young from the Cardiff University School of Biosciences said NRTIs blocked a signalling pathway involving  a protein molecule, the cell surface receptor P2X7, whicvh is already known to be involved with inflammatory disorders. ' Our work presents the first evidence for a potential therapy for the untreatable dry form of AMD, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide, with a drug that is already approved for use in humans.' He also said it opened the door for NRTIs to be used in a wider range of inflammatory diseases.