HIV Tat-associated sensory neuropathy and the contribution of toll-like receptor pathway

The University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine has received an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to advance understanding and treatment of HIV-associated sensory neuropathy. The five-year, $1.7 million award supports  long-running laboratory efforts to address a prevalent, debilitating complication experienced by roughly half of people living with HIV: progressive peripheral nerve damage that commonly produces hard-to-treat pain in the extremities.

As antiretroviral therapies have extended lifespans for people with HIV, chronic complications such as sensory neuropathy have become more prominent. The condition involves gradual loss of peripheral nerves, typically beginning in the toes and progressing through the limbs, and is clinically difficult to distinguish from other peripheral neuropathies. There is currently no FDA-approved therapy that targets the underlying disease process, and symptom-focused treatments often fall short. The NIH funding enables researchers to pursue the development of a novel drug intended to alleviate the nerve pain and modify disease processes associated with HIV sensory neuropathy.

The project's objectives include identifying at least a couple of drug candidates by the conclusion of the funded research period, with the long-term goal of advancing promising compounds into subsequent drug development phases, clinical trials, and eventual regulatory approval. Recognizing the lengthy timeline inherent to therapeutic development, the researchers describe these outcomes as a multiyear to multi-decade ambition but frames the NIH support as a crucial step toward meaningful translational progress. The R01 grant will support experimental work in animal models, continued training opportunities for students, and the generation of data needed to move candidate compounds forward. In doing so, the collaborators aim to fill an important unmet medical need: safe and effective treatments that reduce suffering and improve quality of life for people living with HIV who experience chronic sensory neuropathy. The project blends fundamental investigation, preclinical drug development and educational priorities.