Track 6: Steps in Pursuit of HIV Cure
This study is one of the first to be conducted on humans, and it shows how to increase the body's resistance to HIV even when current conventional therapy is halted. Therefore, we see the study as a critical first step toward treatment. Even though there is currently no therapy for HIV and no vaccine to prevent it, current standard care is quite successful in halting the illness. The so-called antiretroviral medication available to HIV patients today reduces the quantity of the virus in the blood and partially recovers the immunology system. Nevertheless, whether the patient is 10 or 20 years into the course of therapy, the amount of virus in the blood rises within weeks to the same level as before the normal treatment began if the standard treatment is stopped.
According to a study, individuals with HIV who are newly diagnosed and are given monoclonal antibodies in addition to their standard HIV medication experience a quicker decline in viral load after treatment begins and develop better HIV immunity. Additionally, when these individuals stop taking their standard HIV medication, their immune systems can partially or completely suppress the virus.
According to the first successful clinical study in virology, the experiment's underlying assumption is that the monoclonal antibodies aid the immune system in identifying and eliminating the contaminated cells. Additionally, the antibodies attach to viruses that end up in the lymph nodes in bulky complexes, promoting the development of HIV immunity in certain immune cells among other things. By doing this, the body may be able to stop the virus from spreading and "guard" itself from the damage brought on by HIV infection. If the regular course of therapy is stopped, prior clinical studies with investigational drugs have not revealed any appreciable impact on the patient's immunity to HIV or the immune system's capacity to suppress the virus.