Transfer of antivirals to skin Langerhans cells--a novel approach to anti-HIV treatment by "antiviral peplotion".

The analysis of the history of the research on antivirals especially the treatment of HIV-1 infected individuals with antivirals which were developed prior to the current AIDS epidemic led to suggest a different approach to the targeting of antivirals in the AIDS patients. Since HIV-1 replication in infected individuals occurs in the lymph nodes, it is suggested that modified anti-HIV-1 drugs should be applied to Langerhans cells in the skin. The Langerhans cells can serve as the carries of the antiviral drugs attached to their surfaces due to their ability to migrate from the skin through the lymph vessels and to home to the lymph node. At that site Langerhans cells interact with T cells. Transfer of the anti-HIV-1 drugs to infected CD4+ T cells in the lymph node will reduce virus replication in the lymph nodes and will reduce the cytotoxic systemic effects of the antiviral drug. Such an antiviral treatment requires the development of efficient methods of drug delivery through the skin.