Ground-breaking research in Spain may be key to curing HIV
Friday, November 7, 2014 @ 8:05 PM
SPANISH scientists have embarked on pioneering clinical trials to find out whether HIV can be cured with stem cells from umbilical cords.
Only 1% of umbilical cords have the right genetic mutation to enable blood extracted from them to wipe out HIV – a mutation known as the CCR5 Delta 32, according to the National Transplant Organisation (ONT) and the Spanish Haematology and Haemotherapy Society.
Blood transfusions will be given to patients with leukaemia and HIV at the same time at first to see whether the treatment works.
An HIV-positive patient who had developed lymphoma was successfully treated last year at the Oncology Institute of Catalunya, and the immune deficiency virus wiped out, which spurred scientists on to investigate further.
Until then, the only trial with conclusive evidence was in Berlin in 2008, when an HIV-positive patient also suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) was given a bone-marrow transplant from a donor who was not a relative but whose stem cells turned out to contain the CCR5 Delta 32 gene.
This genetic variation appears to be resistant to the HIV virus and blocks its spread, say researchers.
Six years on from the Berlin patient's transplant, during which time he had not taken any antirretroviral drugs – given to positive patients to keep HIV in check – he continues to be virus-free.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com