Major advancement in AIDS cure: Researchers
POSTED June 22, 2009 - 14:03 | POSTED BY Jaspreet Kaur
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on June 22, 2009 - 16:34
“This advancement can finally pave way for finding the absolute cure for this deadly disease,” claim the scientists.
HIV’s hideout
Till now, scientists believed that the AIDS virus might be concealing itself in the kidneys or the brain.
But now, the researchers led by Professor Rafick-Pierre Sekaly claim that they have been able to find out the exact places where the HIV resides in the human body. They have discovered that the virus hides in “long-lived” memory cells that are present in the human body.
The life span of these memory cells is akin to that of the stem cells in the body. They have a very long life and lie inactive in the body for most of the time. They become active only when they come across a new virus or a disease-causing force.
The researchers are now in the process of finding methods to obliterate the virus in its places of protection in the memory cells without damaging the immune system.
The present research is the first step towards wiping out the AIDS, said research leader Sekaly.
Present treatment for AIDS not of much use
HIV affects over 33 million people across the globe, with 2.7 million more getting infected every year.
At present, the anti-viral treatment available for HIV patients only helps in suppressing the virus. It does not eradicate the virus as it lies hidden somewhere in a dormant state, only to attack the human body later again.
Therefore, the present drugs administered to an HIV patient can only increase his lifespan by up to 13 years. The AIDS virus takes shelter in the safe cells and attacks the patient later again.
The latest research study is published in the journal Nature Medicine.
