A child who was believed to have been cured of HIV by aggressive antiretroviral treatment has been found to HIV positive. 'This most important finding is indeed, this child was . . . infected with HIV,' Dr Deborah Persaud said.
Docs announced on Thursday that the child was detected with HIV in the last week during regular testing that she undergoes every 6-8 weeks. The discovery will be seen as a setback because the case had let many to believe that HIV was curable in infants.
'It felt very much like a punch to the gut,' said Dr Hannah B. Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center who treats the girl. 'It was disappointing from the scientific standpoint because we had been hopeful it would lead to bigger and better things, but mainly for the sake of the child who is back on medicine and expected to remain on medicine for a very long time.' The baby remained free of replicable HIV for more than two years.
The almost-there HIV 'cures' till date
Neutralising antibodies
CAPRISA, the Centre for AIDS Programme of Research announced that it has discovered potential antibodies that might be capable of neutralising and destroying multiple HIV strains. The South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced that research showed how a South African woman's body responded to her HIV infection by making potent antibodies. The study which has been published in the journal Nature describes how the team found and identified the antibodies in her blood and then duplicated them by cloning the antibodies in lab. Motsoaledi said that the cloned antibodies were then used in a series of experiments in the laboratory to elucidate the pathway followed by her immune system to make these potent antibodies. Read more
Gene therapy
A radical gene therapy to combat HIV using genetically modified cells, which are resistant to the virus, has been declared a success by scientists after its first clinical trial. The treaHIV-curetment, which has never been tested on humans before, raised patients' defences against HIV by replacing some of their natural immune cells with GM versions, the Guardian reported. Tests on people enrolled in the trial found that the disease-resistant cells multiplied in their bodies. Read more
Other possible HIV cures
Should we be optimistic or cautious? This isn't the first time that we've been presented with tales that an HIV cure is on its way. The most famous of them are:
The Berlin Patient Case Leukaemia
For a long time researchers believed there was no cure. Even five years ago, a scientist who wanted to work on HIV cure research was laughed at. But all that changed with Timothy Brown aka the Berlin Patient. Brown an HIV-positive man who developed leukaemia. After first-line cancer treatments failed, a bone marrow transplant procedure was done. Two transplants later, not only was his leukaemia in remission, his immune system actually managed to ward off HIV. Brown no longer takes antiretroviral drugs or tests positive for HIV. Essentially, he was cured. Read more
Bee venom to cure HIV?
A study suggested that bee venom might have the potency to kill the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine had demonstrated that a toxin called melittin which is found in bee venom is the reason for this. The researchers used nanoparticle technology to target the virus. Particles smaller than HIV were infused with bee venom and since HIV cells are smaller than normal body cells the nanoparticles only targeted HIV.
'Melittin on the nanoparticles fuses with the viral envelope,' said research instructor Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD. 'The melittin forms little pore-like attack complexes and ruptures the envelope, stripping it off the virus.' Adding, 'We are attacking an inherent physical property of HIV. Theoretically, there isn't any way for the virus to adapt to that. The virus has to have a protective coat, a double-layered membrane that covers the virus.'
Stem cell therapy to overcome HIV?
In a path-breaking breakthrough two American were believed to have overcome HIV after undergoing stem-cell therapy! The news has met with widespread elation with experts believing that a cure might be on the cards. Doctors from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston announced on Wednesday night that two previously HIV-positive patients no longer had detectable virus levels in their blood or tissue after having bone marrow stem-cell transplants to treat cancer between two and four years ago, the Age reported. (Read more )
The MX2 gene
According to a study published in the journal Nature, scientists have discovered a new gene which can inhibit the HIV virus from spreading after it has entered the body. The study was led by Dr Caroline Goujon and Professor Mike Malim at the Department of Infectious Diseases, King's College London. It was conducted by introducing the virus to two separate lines of human cells. On one line, they introduced the MX2 gene along with the virus, while on the other they didn't. The line on which the MX2 gene was introduced, it was seen that the virus had stopped replicating. (Read more.)
What is HIV/AIDS?
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 causes, symptoms, treatment and more
With inputs from IANS
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