With the development of Antiretroviral Drug-
Aluminium Magnesium Silicate (AMS), by Maduike
Ezeibe, Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Michael
Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU)
Abia State, People living with HIV/AIDs will now have
the cause to smile again. Science Editor, STANLEY
CHIBUIHEM AMALAHA, in an interview with the don
in the university, reports.
Professor Maduike Ezeibe, a renowned Nigerian
scientist and Head, Department of Veterinary
Medicine, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture,
Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria has found
what could be a novel treatment for Human
immunedeficiency virus (HIV) infections infection
that may slash the current cost of treatment.
Ezeibe, after 19years of intensive research has been
able to show that synthetic Aluminum- Magnesium
Silicate (AMS) has antiretroviral effects that could lay a perfect track for affordable and effective therapy for HIV.
Results of his work titled 'Assessment of
Antiretroviral Effects of a Synthetic Aluminum-
Magnesium Silicate' published in the British
Journal of Medicine & Medical Research (BJMMR
4(8): 1672-1679, 2014) and featured on
SCIENCEDOMAIN international (www.sciencedomain.org), shows a significant
reduction in the titres of the virus when HIV
positive plasma was incubated with AMS.
Chemistry of the action
Ezeibe said this could provide an ultimate cure for
the virus that has defiled so many scientific
efforts to curtail it in the past. He reacted
Aluminium Silicate with Magnesium Silicate to
obtain the synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium
Silicate devoid of impurities as show in the
chemical equation below
A14 (SiO4)3+3Mg2SiO4. – –2Al2 Mg3(SiO4)3
Giving further details on AMS, the distinguished
don said, "Molecules of Aluminum– Magnesium
Silicate have platelets that possess both negative
and positive electrical charges on their surfaces
and their edges. HIV on the other hand is
negatively charged. So the simple scientific
understanding that opposite charges attracts
ensures that the HIV virus binds to the AMS and
is discharged from the body alongside."
It was concluded that the AMS has antiretroviral
effects and could be an inexpensive antiretroviral
therapy for regular treatment to reduce high rate
of HIV infection among low income groups
because the two essential minerals – Aluminum
Silicate (kaolin) and Magnesium Silicate, used in
the production of the therapy, have large deposits
in Umuahia and other parts of Abia State. This, he
said, would make the therapy cheaper and more
affordable than the old anti-retroviral drug.
He added that the therapy would take an average
of two to three months or more to cure HIV/AIDS
patient depending on the viral load in the patient.
Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike
(MOUAU)
Following directives from the Vice Chancellor of
MOUAU, to the Medical Director of the University
to verify Ezeibe's claim, a team from the
University went into collaboration with the Basic
Health Clinic Abuja for an Independent Clinical
trial of AMS. It was discovered that after Eight
months of administration of AMS to HIV patients,
three out of the 10 HIV patients, are now HIV
negative.
Two more would recover this month (June) after
nine months of treatment with regard to reduction
in their viral load; while the remaining five patients
are expected to be cured next month July.
[Credit: Sunday Telegraph]