Cellular and molecular mechanisms of antiretroviral effects of HPA23

HPA23 is an antimonio-tungstate that exhibits numerous antiviral activities both in vivo and in vitro. It has been described as a competitive inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase (RT). Patients treated with daily injections of HPA23 show an inhibition of HIV RT activity in cell culture in 60% of the cases. Using biophysical (electronic spin resonance [ESR]), ultrastructural (microspectroscopic analysis), chemical (spectroscopy), and biological (cell culture) assays, HPA23 cellular and molecular mechanisms may be summarized as follows: 1) competitive inhibition of HIV-RT, 2) no or slight effect on cells infected with HIV in culture, 3) interactions with the cell membranes when long incubations are performed, and 4) antiviral activity possibly mediated by immune modulator effect of the drug.