Breakthrough Study Shows Potential โคfor Long-Term โคHIV Control Without Medication
SAN โคFRANCISCO – A newโ study offers unprecedented hope for individuals living with HIV, demonstrating that a novel methodโข kept teh virus at low levels forโข months – even after stopping medication – in seven out of โten patients. Researchers describe the results as a significant step toward developing aโ therapyโค thatโฃ could allow peopel to liveโข healthy lives without lifelong antiviral treatment.
The study, published in nature,โฃ tested the new method on ten patients. โขwhile three experienced typical rapid viral relapse, six maintained low virus levels for months, and one patient experienced โno relapse at all.
“I believe weโ are โfinally making โขreal progress in developing aโข therapy that could allow peopleโ to live healthyโค lives without having โขto take medication โfor the rest of their โฃlives,”โฃ said study co-author Steven Deeks in a statement from the university.
Antiretroviral therapy, introduced in the 1990s, dramatically transformed HIV infectionโ from a fatal disease to a manageable chronic condition.Though, the virusโ persists within the body and typically reactivates โwithinโข two weeks ofโค treatment cessation.
Researchers investigating the success ofโค long-term viral control discovered that responding patients possessed T cells capable of โคrapid multiplication upon encountering the virus. Co-author Rachel Rutishauser explained the immune response โas being akinโ to “a cat getting ready to pounce on aโข mouse.”
The โคstudy’s authors emphasize that while the findings suggest the possibility of controlling HIV without ongoing antiviralโฃ treatment โ- a potential โคpathway toward a cureโฃ for the 40 million โฃpeople worldwide living with the disease – larger studies are crucial to โฃvalidate โคthe treatment’s efficacy before it can replace standard care.
“This isโ not the end,” stated lead โauthor Michaelโ Peluso. “But it proves โขthat we โฃcan make progressโ on a challenge we frequently enough think ofโ as insurmountable.”
(Source: ntv.de, kst)
