Feline FIV breakthrough.

Dr Brian Willett, of Glasgow University's Retrovirus Research Laboratory, explains: 'At present the only treatment for cats with illness as a result of FIV infection is to give drugs (the same as those used to treat HIV-infected people) that stop the virus growing inside the cell. However, they do not prevent the virus entering cells.

He continues: "We have identified the molecule that enables the virus to attach to the cells of the immune systems and thus infect them. If we can prevent binding of the virus cells then the virus cannot infect the cells and grow. Now that we know which molecule the virus binds to it should be possible to design drugs that block this interaction. 'A great deal of research has been undertaken on HIV, its life cycle and interaction with the host. Although there are many theories as to how it causes disease and how we may cure it, we cannot be sure which theories are the correct/most relevant ones. "FIV causes a similar disease in cats to HIV in humans, so by identifying the common features between FIV and HIV we can understand which aspects of the viral life cycle are important for disease development and which are incidental"

_{source Your Cat Mag.}