Over the weekend, I pored over numerous scientific journals, and came across something particularly interesting when searching for inhibitors of XMRV Integrase - Chicoric Acid. I found numerous studies done, showing that it inhibits not only HIV-1 integrase, but a broad spectrum of integrase enzymes. This holds some potential as a low cost treatment, however its efficacy remains to be seen. Chicoric Acid is one of the active principles in extracts of purple coneflower (echinacea). For pharmaceutical companies, there is little interest in the compound, as it cannot be patented, however in the not-too-distant future we may see it appear on shelves of health food stores.
I for one, cannot guarantee its efficacy. No pharmacokinetic studies have been done on it. Normally, a lot of phytochemicals that show a lot of promise in vitro, have little to absolutely no effect in vivo. This is because everything that is absorbed through the intestine is taken to the liver through the hepatic portal vein, where it undergoes first-pass metabolism, usually through the Cytochrome P450 enzyme system, followed by glucoronidation where it is eliminated through bile. However, pharmaceutical chemists have devised clever ways to thwart the P450 system, by identifying key parts of the molecule that are vulnerable to attack, and replacing functional groups with Chlorine or Fluorine atoms, giving them a much longer half-life in the body. Some of these analogs are already being studied as candidate compounds for HIV - for example it has been found that the carboxyl groups of caffeic acids are not necessary to inhibit integrase.