Another person was cured of HIV

People may have very inviolable reactions once they find out they are HIV positive, this

includes feelings like for instance fear, anger, and a perception of being overwhelmed. All

this feelings make these people feel like they are helpless, sad and most of the time anxious

about the illness. People suffering from HIV feeling all these are normal. Having such a huge

illness usually takes a toll on their conscious. They also tend feel like wherever they are

going or if somehow someone gets to know about their illness, they would start judging

them or start treating them differently than the others. They always have an anxious

thought going through their head whenever they are in a crowded place. Now a days,

almost every person knows about this illness and 90% of them are much more positive than

is widely assumed. Timothy Ray Brown, in 2007, was the first person to be ever declared by

the doctors to be cured of HIV. He was referred as the Berlin Patient at that time.

Even though he was cured of HIV, his journey towards cure was not so plain sailing. Mr

Brown was diagnosed with HIV in 1990s, at that time he received antiretroviral treatment.

Antiretroviral treatment is the usual course of action given to the patients of HIV infection or

illness. Nevertheless, thereafter, he also sustained a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia,

in due course he was required a stem cell transplant. For this transplant to occur he was

required to look for a suitable match. At that time, Mr Brown’s doctor had the idea of trying

an experiment. He was started looking for a specific donor with a peculiar genetic mutation

that made them specifically immune to HIV infection. As Mr Brown was treated with this

certain donation of stem cell it turned out that not merely was his leukaemia treated but

also cured the HIV infection.

Now a study articling in The Lancet shows that another person with HIV illness has been

cured through the stem cell transplant procedure. The person in this second case sustained a

stem cell transplant with cells that did not convey the CCR5 gene. This is the gene that

produces a certain protein which helps the virus to enter the cells. This person was also

going through a treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma which includes the cells without CCR5

gene for bone marrow transplant. Subsequently, the treatment, after 30 months the person

terminated antiretroviral treatment. The person from London who sustained the transplant

of stem cells, customarily found in the bone marrow which generates blood and immune

system cells, with this type of mutation from a donor, since September 2017, has not taken

antiretroviral drugs. He is not identified in the paper. The doctors confirmed that the HIV

virus became untraceable in the blood samples. This discovery means that irrespective

traces of the virus’s genetic material might be still present in the system, this kind of traces

are known as Fossil – traces, signifying that they cannot trail to further replication of the

virus. The expert personals confirmed that the HIV will also remain undetectable in the

samples of cerebrospinal fluid, semen, intestinal tissues, and lymphoid tissue.

Prof. Ravindra Kumar Gupta, from the University of Cambridge in the U.K., the study’s lead

author said, “We propose that these results represent the second ever case of a patient to

be cured of HIV.” Prof. Ravindra Kumar Gupta also stated, “Our findings show that the

success of stem cell transplantation as a cure for HIV, first reported 9 years ago in the Berlin

patient, can be replicated.” Nonetheless, Prof. Gupta brings light to that,” it is important to

note that this curative treatment is high risk and only used as a last resort for patients with

HIV who also have life threatening haematological [blood] malignancies. Therefore, this is

not a treatment that would be offered widely to patients with HIV who are on successful

antiretroviral treatment.”

Other researchers also commented on this discovery, they intricate in the study express

anticipating that, in the future scientists or researchers may be able to use cutting – edge

gene refinishing tools as a part of overtures meant to treat and cure HIV illness. Another

researcher from the University of Oxford, in the U.K., who also co-authored the study and

research, Dr. Dimitra Peppa, also noted, “Gene editing using the

CCR5

has received a lot of

attention recently.” However she pointed out that there is still a long way to go before such

remedies become practicable. She also said,” There are still many ethical and technical

barriers — e.g., gene editing, efficiency, and robust safety data — to overcome before any

approach using

CCR5

gene editing can be considered as a scalable cure strategy for HIV.”

Many experts have even claimed that all these might not affect or change things for the

average person with HIV illness. Though they accept that there might be possible changes in

terms of the research itinerary. Furthermore it demonstrates that this might be a potentially

feasible pathway in achieving a cure for this illness. That feasible route operate through a

receptor called CCR5. CCR5 is one of the fistful of receptors that HIV uses to get inside a

specific or particular type of cell. These specific cells are called CD4 – Positive T cells. These

cells are very vital to a person’s immune system which help in creating defense against

viruses. Some extent of people have a punctilious mutation in their genes that encipher the

CCR5 receptor that eschewed the HIV virus from utilizing it to get into T – cells. If the entry is

prohibited then that means there would not be any possibilities for infections.

Like Mr Brown, this person had to go through the transplant as a part of his cancer. After he

was diagnosed with advanced case of Hodgkin Lymphoma by the doctors, he had to go

through chemotherapy and a transplant from a donor selected in part for their CCR5

mutation. In contrast to Mr Brown, this person’s cancer did not entail full body radiation,

which made his chemotherapy much gentler than Timothy Brown. For researchers, this fact

is very encouraging even though they have noted certain risks which are still very

outstanding to offer any patient outside the cancer treatment. Provided the expectancy of

life has increased dramatically for people taking antiretroviral medications. The virus

blocking power of the CCR5 mutation can be simulated with a drug.

A joint venture, Viiv Healthcare, since 2007, primarily formed by Pfizer and

GlaxoSmithKline, has marketed a drug, called Selzentry in the United States, which prohibits

HIV from utilizing the CCR5 receptor by binding to the receptor oneself. This drug too like the

others have the same issues that is it is to be taken every day. Like any other therapy if the

person stops taking this medicine the virus would come roaring back. In an ideal world, the

treatment for HIV virus would be transplantation or gene therapy procedure targeting the

CCR5 mutation, that is once it is done the person would not have to worry about the virus

reappearing or even would have to remember to take medicines regularly. For future

treatments, the notion of utilizing CCR5 as the foundation occurs with cautions. On the one

hand, not all HIV viruses utilize CCR5 receptors to get into a cell. There are viruses that use

other co – receptors, even though that is a rare occurrence. And even if the virus is stopped

from entering a new, cell from a treatment, it has a tendency of staying in previously

infected cells. This concept is still new and is also an indication about how difficult this illness

is to deal with, but at the same time, it offers hope for others living with HIV as there is not

one but two people who cured from this illness and encourage others to look forward to

them.

- Upashana Chakraborty