Eradication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected cells by a combination of antimetabolic cytotoxic chemotherapy and antiviral chemotherapy in vitro: a pilot study.

Although highly active antiretroviral therapy against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 reduces the mortality of persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, it does not eliminate HIV reservoirs. In this study, which used a 6-thioguanine (6-TG) resistant clone (4C6) of the MT-2 cell line as a model, the combination of 6-TG with both reverse-transcriptase (RT) inhibitor and protease inhibitor or 6-TG with a protease inhibitor alone completely eradicated HIV-1-carrying cells from the culture and protected uninfected 4C6 cells from HIV-1 infection. The combination of 6-TG and a RT inhibitor, azidothymidine, provided partial protection.