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Scientists have apparently managed to cure a second person infected with the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. The case, however, is not yet officially being labeled as “cure,” but experts consider it another step toward finding a cure, says a study published in the journal Nature.
The case of the “London patient” could mean hope for 37 million more sufferers. The scientists’ success came more than 10 years after the first success in treating HIV in the “Berlin patient”. Both men received bone marrow transplants from donors with a rare genetic mutation, CNN reported.
The lead author of the study, Ravindra Gupta, explained that both donors had the delta 32 mutation of the CCR5 gene, which has been shown to be resistant to HIV. “Achieving remission in a second patient using a similar approach demonstrates that the Berlin patient was not an anomaly and that this was indeed a therapeutic procedure that eliminated the HIV virus in these two people,” Gupta said.
Treatment is not suitable for everyone
Gupta, however, warned that this procedure is not suitable for all patients, but it offers hope for other treatments including gene therapy. The London patient remains under the supervision of Gupta and his team, and they say it is also too early to determine whether they have truly eradicated HIV in him.
The Londoner, who wishes to remain anonymous, shows no signs of the virus even 18 months after stopping antiviral drugs. So far he is only the second person after American Timothy Ray Brown, known as the Berlin patient, in whom HIV has not been detected after treatment ended.
Case of the Berlin patient
Doctors diagnosed Brown with HIV in 1995 and eleven years later he developed leukemia. In 2007 and again in 2008 doctors in Berlin transplanted bone marrow to him from a donor with a mutation that makes carriers immune to HIV. Brown stopped taking antivirals immediately after the first transplant and tests have not detected HIV in him to this day.
Brown’s case has sparked debate in the scientific community about whether the Berlin patient should be considered truly cured, or only functionally cured, i.e. in remission. This is a state in which the patient has no symptoms of the disease, the presence of which is still assumed.
The success was guaranteed by a special mutation
A similar case has now occurred in London. It is known that doctors diagnosed the London patient with HIV in 2003. He only began taking medications meant to slow the development of the infection in 2012. The reason for delaying therapy was not published according to AP. In 2012 he developed Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is a malignant tumor disease of the lymph nodes, and four years later the patient agreed to a bone marrow transplant.
Under Gupta’s leadership, doctors focused on finding the right donor for the London patient, as they believed that the presence of the relevant mutation could also help him eliminate HIV. The search was successful because the donor inherited the mutation from both parents. AP noted that about one percent of people with roots in northern Europe have such a genetic makeup that protects against most strains of HIV.
The virus did not return even after 18 months
The London patient agreed to stop antiviral treatment after the transplant, but the virus still disappeared. If the drugs are normally stopped, the virus returns in full force within two or three weeks. But that did not happen and tests did not detect the virus even after 18 months.
However, the treatment of the patients from London and Berlin does not fully match. Unlike Brown, the London patient underwent a less drastic chemotherapy to prepare him for the transplant, was not irradiated at all and had only a mild reaction to the transplant. Brown went through a harsher procedure and two transplants because his leukemia recurred.
A step on the road to an HIV cure
German hematologist Gero Hütter from Berlin’s Charité clinic, who led Brown’s treatment, called the new case great news and another piece of the puzzle in the search for an HIV cure. Gupta agrees with this view. Experts at a scientific conference taking place in Seattle, USA, will further discuss the topic of HIV treatment and the case of the London patient.
