Of all the grave illnesses in the world, perhaps none is as notorious as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). A communicative virus with no medical cure, the illness kills millions of people each year.
But at Tufts' Antioxidants Research Laboratory, Senior Scientist Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., is working on research with enormous potential to help. By focusing his studies on selenium, an inorganic antioxidant found in vegetables and in animals that eat food from the soil, Blumberg hopes to contribute to the production of an affordable organic supplement that can treat symptoms of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Blumberg's interest in the relationship between selenium and HIV arose after the release of a clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH). The randomized, double-blind study was run by University of Miami Psychology Professor Barry Hurwitz, and was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine of the American Medical Association.
The findings were "released after only nine months of an 18-month study because it was too exciting to wait," Blumberg said.
Hurwitz tested the effects of selenium on 174 HIV and AIDS patients, some of whom were currently undergoing antiretroviral treatment. He measured the number of cells in their bodies with HIV before and after the testing.
"I found that selenium can buffer the physical and mental stress that damage cells, cause injury, and lead to heart disease, a gateway to the virus," Hurwitz said.
While selenium treatment is not a cure for HIV, it mimics the effect of antiretroviral treatment in that it prevents the replication of the virus and promotes the regeneration of T-helper cells found in the immune system. Hurwitz likens selenium to "a lion tamer in a circus."
"Selenium is an overlooked antioxidant that has the power to tame the virus," he said.
In addition to HIV, selenium affects other viruses as well by taming them and preventing them from replicating.
Selenium's effect on HIV is "groundbreaking because it attacks the viral load where the virus is most concentrated," Hurwitz said.
"This has never been done before, especially during the clinical trial of a treatment," Hurwitz said. In addition to the treatment's effectiveness, the low cost of selenium makes it attractive to all HIV patients, including those who could not otherwise seek treatment.
Blumberg emphasized the chemical's potential to change the way AIDS is treated.
"[Selenium] treatment only costs 25 cents per day, making it a simple, inexpensive and safe adjunct therapy," Blumberg said. The treatment comes in the form of a selenium capsule that patients must take orally once per day.
Various selenium supplements are available at drug stores nationwide.
Maryrose Lombardo is the public relations manager of Nutrition 21, a nutritional bioscience company that markets and manufactures nutritional supplements in different therapeutic areas. According to Lombardo, the company is very excited about the low cost and high availability of Selenomax, a new selenium supplement the company sells to help sick people strengthen their immune systems.
"Selenomax only costs $15.99 for a two-month supply," she said. "The product is so new and exciting that it has a premium position on the [drugstore] shelves in the vitamin [and] mineral supplement aisle." If the product is popular among consumers, she said, Nutrition 21 hopes to increase the number of retailers carrying Selenomax.
In the meantime, Hurwitz said, scientists will need to work to prove selenium's effect on HIV is real.
"We need to replicate the study's results and try to improve them," he said. "We are still assessing the last nine months of trials that finished in July 2006. My team is currently applying for a grant from the NIH to get more funding for the research."
Blumberg said he expects the results of the research will be positive.
"There is a possibility that results could change by the end of the study, but that is highly unlikely," Blumberg said. "A few years ago, there were studies in Africa on the relationship between various multivitamins, including selenium, and the transference of [HIV] from infected mothers to newborns."
"That study already confirmed the ability of a single supplement on a deadly virus," he added. "So I trust that Hurwitz's findings will not be disproved in the second half of his study."
Both Blumberg and Hurwitz hope that once the trial period has ended and the results have been published, the treatment will be introduced overseas.
"The expensive treatments are inaccessible to poor people with HIV and AIDS in Third World countries," Blumberg said. "Selenium treatment would positively affect many HIV patients in these poor countries."
Hurwitz said he expects selenium will particularly benefit those living in Africa, where HIV is common and treatment can be harder to find.
"Soil is deficient in selenium in some geographic locations, such as sub-Saharan Africa," he said. "Maybe the virus follows sub-standard soil and decreases the lifespan of those living in these areas due to muscle problems, immune deregulation and cardiovascular disease."
According to Hurwitz, many farmers in areas with poor soil are aware of these negative effects, and add selenium to their soil to protect their animals' health. Hurwitz feels that in order to prevent the disease in the future, selenium should be available to those suffering from HIV as well.
Blumberg was optimistic as well, but said that there's still more work to be done by researchers like himself.
"The study is encouraging researchers at Tufts that they should look closer at people with HIV [and] AIDS so that they can ask informed questions and make more headway," he said.
Hurwitz said he's thrilled that his research may benefit so many people.
"This is what a scientist hopes and dreams for: the ability to improve the quality of life for the less fortunate."
