Preliminary "training" of the immune system is taking place.
Doctors from the United States and Brazil have developed an experimental immunotherapy, the application of which in ten HIV patients led to long-term suppression of the infection for several months in 70% of volunteers even with complete cessation of antiretroviral drugs. This was reported by the press service of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
"Most participants in our experiment showed signs that their immune system began to fight and control the infection, which is an unprecedented event. I am confident that we are starting to take the first real steps toward creating a therapy that would allow HIV carriers to live a full life without constantly taking antiretroviral drugs," said UCSF Professor Steven Dicks, as quoted by the university's press service.
As the scientists note, the experimental immunotherapy they created includes three components. These include a vaccine that prompts the immune system to produce antibodies to the most stable segments of the Gag protein from the HIV envelope, as well as two sets of broadly neutralizing antibodies that are administered to the patient before and after stopping antiretroviral drugs, and a special molecule that activates "dormant" HIV.
According to the doctors, this combination of agents aims to maximize the cleansing of the patient's body from reservoirs of the HIV virus, whose particles begin to rapidly form and spread throughout the body after stopping antiretroviral medications. The preliminary "training" of the immune system, as the doctors suggested, will either significantly slow down this process or create a "vaccinating" effect that will cause the body to independently eliminate all traces of the virus.
To test the new immunotherapy, the scientists enlisted the support of 10 HIV volunteers who had been on antiretroviral therapy for at least a year before the experiment began and maintained a consistently low level of viral particles in their bodies. All of them agreed to undergo a course of the new therapy and temporarily stop taking medications to assess the immune response to the immunotherapy.
The experimental therapy acted on the volunteers in an unexpectedly effective manner. The virus began to replicate rapidly in the first two weeks after stopping medication in only 3 out of 10 patients, while in the others, the proportion of viral particles remained low for several months, with one of them maintaining this state. This gives hope for the creation of even more effective and universal immunotherapies for HIV, the scientists concluded.
About HIV Treatment
To combat HIV infection, various antiretroviral drugs are currently used that prevent the formation of new viral particles or destabilize their structure. These drugs stop the replication of the virus, which, however, does not lead to a cure for patients, as HIV enters a "dormant state." This prompts scientists to develop approaches that allow "awakening" HIV and completely cleansing the body of all traces of the virus.
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