Croton olifgandrus Pierre and Hutch Compounds Reverse HIV-1 Viral Latency

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections are nowadays managed effectively using modern antiretroviral therapies (ART). Notably, these therapies are do not cure the infection, and the virus may remain latent in reservoirs throughout the body. The latent virus can reactivate at any time, and disease progression may proceed. ART treatment must be ongoing, generally for the lifetime of the patient. However, even with correct treatment, the virus may still reactivate. Additionally, the latent virus in these reservoirs may cause chronic inflammation, as well as other comorbidities in some patients. Therefore, there is still no effective and readily accessible cure for HIV, and much research is still required in this field. Medicinal plants have potential for the treatment of viral diseases. Recently, substantial research has focussed on respiratory viruses due to covid-19 global pandemic,1-5 with hundreds of African plants identified to be effective against multiple viral respiratory infections.6,7