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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : March 20, 2014 6:52 PM IST
A multi-national research team led by Duke Medicine scientists has identified a subclass of antibodies associated with an effective immune response to an HIV vaccine. Earlier analyses of the results of that trial, known as RV144, suggested that antibodies to sites within a part of the HIV envelope called V1V2 correlated with reduced risk of HIV infection. These antibodies belong to a class called immunoglobulin G, or IgG.
The new studies by two independent laboratories both found that only one subclass of V1V2-directed IgG antibodies the IgG3 subclass is associated with antiviral responses linked to the reduced risk of HIV infection seen in RV144. The experiments were led by Georgia D. Tomaras, Ph.D., of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, and Galit Alter, Ph.D., of the Ragon Institute, with funding in part from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. (Read: Coming soon a drug that protects people from HIV infections for three months!)
In the study led by Dr. Tomaras, scientists found that V1V2-specific IgG3 antibodies correlated with a decreased risk of infection in RV144 vaccinees and were linked to HIV-eliminating activity. The researchers also discovered that the level of V1V2-specific IgG3 antibodies in vaccinees' blood waned rapidly, as did the efficacy of the investigational vaccines tested in the RV144 trial (from 60 percent efficacy at 12 months post-vaccination to 31.2 percent efficacy at 42 months). (Read: Two Americans cured of HIV after undergoing stem-cell therapy!)
The study led by Dr. Alter demonstrated that RV144 vaccination induced antibodies able to direct multiple, coordinated HIV-eliminating activities, and that these activities were conducted primarily by V1V2-specific IgG3 antibodies. (Read: Aggressive HIV treatment points to functional cure for AIDS patients)
The finding has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
What is HIV ?
HIV/AIDS is a disease that affects the human immune system. AIDS is the final stage of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. If an HIV positive person is left untreated, his/her condition deteriorates into full-blown AIDS where the immune system stops working. Thus the immune system is unable to protect the person from diseases or infections. The virus can be transmitted from an HIV positive person through the exchange of body fluids. This can happen through sexual contact, blood transfusion, needles or from a mother to child during pregnancy. Though there is no cure yet, antiretroviral treatment has proven to be very effective. (Read: HIV/AIDS Causes, Symptoms, Tests, Treatment & More )
With inputs from ANI
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