The so-called “London patient” has received special stem cell therapy
Breakthrough in virus research: doctors in London were able to cure a patient from an HIV infection. He is only the second person ever.
For a long time, the so-called “Berlin patient” was the only person who was considered cured of HIV. It is all the more gratifying that English doctors have been able to use a special therapy to free another patient from the AIDS pathogen. According to the researchers, no functional HI virus can be found in him about two and a half years after the end of anti-HIV therapy. The patient, who had blood cancer in addition to HIV, had previously received a special stem cell donation. In the journal “The Lancet HIV”, the researchers emphasize that stem cell therapy is a high-risk treatment that is out of the question for most HIV patients.
In the two cured patients, the immune system was rebuilt through stem cell therapy. The stem cell donor each had a rare mutation that made them immune to HIV. The scientists found some of the genes of HI viruses in some of the cured samples, but assume that they are “fossil” DNA strands. The data they wrote, such as the sharp drop in the number of HIV-specific antibodies, indicated that the virus had disappeared from the patient’s body, the researchers write.
A basic cure for AIDS, which is triggered by the HI virus, is fundamentally not possible until today. However, it can be managed with special medication and the outbreak of AIDS can be prevented in the long term. Around 38 million people worldwide are infected with HIV.
(dpa / dk)
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