POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Research News & Studies => Topic started by: xman on March 07, 2010, 05:35:10 pm
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Researchers: AIDS virus can hide in bone marrow
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID (AP) – 4 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The virus that causes AIDS can hide in the bone marrow, avoiding drugs and later awakening to cause illness, according to new research that could point the way toward better treatments for the disease.
Finding that hide-out is a first step, but years of research lie ahead.
Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan and her colleagues report in this week's edition of the journal Nature Medicine that the HIV virus can infect long-lived bone marrow cells that eventually convert into blood cells.
The virus is dormant in the bone marrow cells, she said, but when those progenitor cells develop into blood cells, it can be reactivated and cause renewed infection. The virus kills the new blood cells and then moves on to infect other cells, said.
"If we're ever going to be able to find a way to get rid of the cells, the first step is to understand" where a latent infection can continue, Collins said.
In recent years, drugs have reduced AIDS deaths sharply, but patients need to keep taking the medicines for life or the infection comes back, she said. That's an indication that while the drugs battle the active virus, some of the disease remains hidden away to flare up once the therapy is stopped.
One hide-out was found earlier in blood cells called macrophages. Another pool was discovered in memory T-cells, and research began on attacking those.
But those couldn't account for all the HIV virus still circulating, Collins said, showing there were more locations to check out and leading her to study the blood cell progenitors.
Finding these sources of infection is important because eliminating them would allow AIDS patients to stop taking drugs after their infection was over. That's critical in countries where the treatment is hard to afford and deliver.
"I don't know how many people realize that although the drugs have reduced mortality we still have a long way to go," Collins said in a telephone interview. "That is mainly because we can't stop the drugs, people have to take it for a lifetime."
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, University of Michigan, Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, National Science Foundation and a Bernard Maas Fellowship.
Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIzw5TNPc3bTHfHDOrmqk5VNd9rgD9E9UL400
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xman,
Nice find! There are probably many "hideouts" for hiv in the body such as bonemarrow cells that are unknown.
All these cells must have something in common to allow hiv to enter. The trick is to find a mechanism that will seek out and destroy all the infected cells with a common denominator.
v
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Why must there be a common denominator?
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I think the issue here's the interpretation of the find. It is good or bad news? In a way it complicates the possibilities of eradication consistently since we need to replace the bone marrow or find a way to activate the virus in it.
I think given the enormeous challenges for eradication we should focus on the possibility to teach our immune system the way to do the job on its own like for other diseases such herpes and HPV.
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bman,
If there is a common denominator in all cells infected with hiv, then potentialy, only one therapy, which goes after that common denominator, will be needed to seek those infected cells. In other words, all the cells no matter where they are found, have this same trait to be exploited.
xman,
Your right, the immune system will have to get involved. However, to teach the immune system to do the job, getting to the reservoirs is imperative.
v
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My hiv is hiding behind the couch, keeping Jesus company.
Truth!
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My hiv is hiding behind the couch, keeping Jesus company.
Truth!
You needs an exorcism!
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You needs an exorcism!
Have you got one handy?
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Have you got one handy?
Please Welcome Sister Matty and Sister Jan to perform this evenings exorcisms.
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Have you got one handy?
Here's the best that I could get for two dollaz and a cracker. I think the fella holding the cross ist der MtD.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uyrxeugtbV0/R7pJekYeAfI/AAAAAAAACgw/dGm8AhaQ-3A/s320/exorcist.jpg)
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Yus. Sister Ejaculata Lovetinkle was working the camera in that shot.
MtD
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Why must there be a common denominator?
There must not. But there may be.
Actually, this piece of news is consistent with the case of the patient whose HIV infection was cured after a bone marrow transplant in Germany last year. It may be that the bone marrow is THE hide out of hiv in the body, it may be that this hide out feeds the other ones, the bone marrow may be the primary source of latent hiv, and this would explain how a bone marrow transplant could lead to a cure.
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ronaldinho,
Your quote:
"There must not. But there may be"
THERE IS !! All cells infected with hiv have inverted phospholipids on their membrane as well as exposed proteins, including gp41 and gp 120. All of these common denominators are exploitable in one form or another, wheather it be broadly neutralizing antibodies or anti-ps antibodies or some other therapy not yet found. Please see the latest IAVI report here:
http://www.iavi.org/lists/iavipublications/attachments/409aee04-63a3-4f83-b432-3be08f7b4913/iavi_iavi_report_jan-feb_2010_eng.pdf
v
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There must not. But there may be.
Actually, this piece of news is consistent with the case of the patient whose HIV infection was cured after a bone marrow transplant in Germany last year. It may be that the bone marrow is THE hide out of hiv in the body, it may be that this hide out feeds the other ones, the bone marrow may be the primary source of latent hiv, and this would explain how a bone marrow transplant could lead to a cure.
That's an interesting proposition, that the bone marrow is the primary source of latent HIV. It would make it easier to pinpoint. One thing to keep in mind is that in the past there had been bone marrow transplants performed on people with HIV and it failed to cure them as it did the Berlin patient.
It could be for any number of reasons but the most glaring difference between the Berlin patient and the previous bone marrow transplant recipients with HIV was the use of a donor with the delta 32 mutation (i.e. no CCR5 co-receptor), which has worked even though the patient had dual-tropic virus . . . go figure.