Scientists at the recent International AIDS conference in Montreal presented evidence of two cases in which patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) appear to have been cured of the disease.
AIDS is the chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV is a sexually-transmitted infection that spreads via contact with or transfer of infected blood, pre-ejaculate, semen and vaginal fluids. Once HIV enters the body it attacks cells of the immune system and thereby disables the infected cells, which lowers the body’s ability to fight infections, and hijacks these cells, causing them to manufacture more virus particles.
Early HIV infection may seem like the flu, and in some cases it is asymptomatic, so many patients have no idea that they have become infected. When HIV infection is recognized early, effective treatments can control the disease and allow people to live long and healthy lives. But, to maintain their health, these patients must take drugs to treat HIV for the rest of their lives.
Untreated HIV infections usually progress to AIDS, the late stage of HIV infection. The transition from HIV infection to AIDS can take 10 years or more. The resulting badly-damaged immune system then can allow the development of opportunistic infections by organisms that usually do not infect patients with intact immune systems. Due to HIV’s effects upon the immune system, these AIDS patients cannot defend themselves against many types of infections and the results can be fatal. Patients with AIDS seldom live longer than 3 years.
One of the new cases involved a 66 year-old American man with HIV who developed a form of leukemia. The stem cell transplant (click for more information) that was utilized to treat his leukemia simultaneously eliminated any detectable HIV infection. These stem cells were special; they came from a donor with a specific, rare genetic variation that gives rise to immune cells which are naturally resistant to HIV.
The second patient received an immune-boosting regimen in 2006 that produced a viral remission. Her immune system harbored the HIV virus in a dormant state but did not allow active infection. This patient has now lived for more than 15 years without evidence of viral replication, meaning that the virus is present but no longer making the copies of itself that cause disease and can lead to contagious spread.
Both of these patients discontinued the use of any drugs meant to control or cure HIV. There are four other patients who received stem cell transplants who appear to be free of disease.
While these are only a few cases the many patients worldwide who have been infected with HIV, they do offer clues to researchers that may lead to the development of safe, effective and tolerable therapies that could allow the 38 million patients worldwide and 1.2 million patients in the U.S. to live lives free from HIV and the need for lifelong treatment.