Photo caption: bone marrow stem cells may be able to cure an infected patients.
(Source: Getty)
[/]: It is the natural law Web site reported that a person suffering from AIDS and leukemia man accept special stem cell transplantation, the two diseases are a "cure." The stem cell transplantation from an innate immunity against AIDS with donors. Now 2 years have passed, even if the patient does not have the use of antiretroviral drugs, no longer found HIV viruses.
Germany in November 2008 have published their findings, since then, research results through peer review and eventual publication in the famous "New England Journal of Medicine (New England Journal of Medicine).
Any response to chemotherapy for Leukemia patients with poor should bone marrow transplant, doctors will search for bone marrow donor registration information to find a suitable matching for patients, and is ready for transplant.
But Germany Berlin summer-Te Medical College (Charité Universitätsmedizin) Hematology home Gero Hütter work than normal bone marrow transplantation and into the next, Hütter is not academics specializing in AIDS, but when he realized one of his patients ' need for bone marrow transplant, he thought 10 years ago he had read an article, some people have special genetic variation, so that they have AIDS.
This variation is the CCR5 gene on a short piece missing. The gene encoding a receptor, the receptor for HIV to invade called CD4 + T cells in immune cells. There are approximately 1% of the European population the CCR5 gene 2 copies of all such variations, which makes them very difficult to HIV infection. If you can use this Hütter is missing the CCR5 receptor cell replacement patients ' immune cells, the patient might not be so vulnerable to HIV infection.
Hütter in bone marrow donation center in Germany as this patient found 80 appropriate matching, of which 61, bone marrow donors were certified with the CCR5 mutation, in February 2007, Hütter patients of the transplantations.
United States University of Pennsylvania researchers James Riley said AIDS, even though up to now only a case of this operation, but the result is extremely valuable. He said: "This provides ample evidence that if most of the cells in the body has a resistance to AIDS, the body really resistant virus. ”
Hütter indicates that another group of doctors is preparing for another AIDS test-positive leukemia patient to do the same operation, this will be the second cases of this kind of surgery, a few years later we can see the result.
So patients have been cured? this also said that is not good, although the patients about 2 years no recurrence, but likely a virus will still come back. Viruses may just lurk in the doctor cannot test cells, such as the brain or heart cells.
In addition, there is a kind of HIV does not use CCR5 receptor to invade cells. This virus usually does not have a normal immune system of patients, but they may end up in the patient's body.
What is certain is that most people who test positive for HIV/AIDS may not be willing to accept this kind of treatment. Bone marrow transplantation have a certain risk, compared to the years of antiretroviral drug therapy, even considering the drug side effects, the risk of bone marrow transplantation or larger. In the bone marrow transplant patients to accept before drugs and radiation treatment to kill his blood stem cells, a process, the patient vulnerable to infection, and eventually the patient's body is also possible on the transplantation of stem cells rejection.
Some drugs may play a similar role in the United States Pfizer company produces a CCR5 inhibitors, called maraviroc, has been approved in the United States and Europe. Other companies are busy developing further targeting CCR5 drug.
Unfortunately, maraviroc does not completely prevent HIV binds to CCR5 but this medicine with other antiretroviral drugs in combination together. Riley said: "basically HIV can find ways to bypass the drug but continue to use CCR5", he also added that the HIV drug may be able to defeat the suppression, or bind to other parts of the CCR5, but not without drugs.
Other researchers are testing gene therapy to completely block the CCR5. For example, Riley in the past and a called Sangamo BioSciences for biotechnology companies to determine if the company a knockout target gene technology is used to knock CCR5 gene. Sangamo company last week announced that the company has start phase I clinical trial, the trial will include moved out of the participants a sample of the T cells, knockout CCR5 gene, and finally the changed cells back into the patient. This test is to find out which technology security rather than the outcome of the first step, and the participant is not affected by changes of T cells will not be destroyed.
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