Seattle researchers find clues for treatments that could eliminate HIV in infected patients
January 12, 2021 at 12:40 pm
Dr. Joshua Schiffer (third from left) and E. Fabian Cardozo-Ojeda (far right) led research published on Tuesday that provides mathematical models on strategies for optimizing treatment for HIV. (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Photo)
In the nearly four decades since HIV was discovered, only two people have been cured of the virus that has killed millions.
Researchers in Seattle are hoping to boost that number. On Tuesday, scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington published a study that provides clues to optimizing treatments that could wipe out HIV in infected patients.
Scientists determine ideal dose of stem cells to control HIV
Scientists have determined the optimal conditions following a stem cell transplant that could control HIV without the need of an everyday pill, according to a study published today in
eLife.
Finding the right balance of stem cell dose, cell type and timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) could potentially lead to a spontaneous cure of HIV.
There are only two cases of HIV cure to date: the Berlin Patient and the London Patient, who both received stem cell transplants with stem cells from donors that lack a molecule called CCR5, which HIV is attracted to.
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Scientists have determined the optimal conditions following a stem cell transplant that could control HIV without the need of an everyday pill, according to a study published today in
eLife.
Finding the right balance of stem cell dose, cell type and timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) could potentially lead to a spontaneous cure of HIV.
There are only two cases of HIV cure to date: the Berlin Patient and the London Patient, who both received stem cell transplants with stem cells from donors that lack a molecule called CCR5, which HIV is attracted to. The major obstacle to HIV eradication is a latent reservoir of long-lived infected cells, and cure strategies aim to eliminate all infected cells or permanently prevent viral reactivation from latency, explains first author E. Fabian Cardozo-Ojeda, Senior Staff Scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, US. We wanted to recreate the cures seen in the Ber