Scientists make inroads towards eventual vaccine for HIV prevention

San Antonio, Texas Biomed AIDS research team is studying the antibodies that can eventually work as a vaccine against HIV.

By: Sudhakar Jha | | Published: August 21, 2018 5:21 pm

Good news is coming in from San Antonio, Texas where the researchers could finally find an HIV vaccine that could remove the deadly disease. In a study published recently, it was shown that a local team’s recent discovery has paved the way for a new field of HIV prevention study.

The team has been designing and creating antibodies, which are proteins in the body that fight infection. Dr. Ruth Ruprecht, Texas Biomed AIDS research director, is specifically studying the antibodies that can protect against the HIV.

“The overwhelming majority of HIV infections in the world occur through mucosal fluids — 90 percent,” Ruprecht said. And that’s the reason why she’s studying the important antibodies created in those mucosal areas, such as the mouth or sexual organs. Those areas are supposedly the first line of defence against HIV, and Dr. Ruprecht said, surprisingly, enough studies haven’t been done in this regard.

She has studied two antibodies and has had success, but she realised that very less has been done on the third antibody, called IgM. “We decided to do something about this void of information,” she said.

When used to fight against the HIV virus, IgM sticks to the HIV particles and creates a particle that is too large to pass through mucous membranes and thereby wards off the infection.

“By making the antibodies ourselves, characterizing them very well, we know exactly what the animals get and we also know what the animals don’t have,” Dr. Ruprecht said. In the study, it was also proven that IgM plays a significant role in HIV defence. And in fact, the antibody prevented HIV two-thirds of the time.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published: August 21, 2018 5:21 pm

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