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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