Bone marrow transplant suppresses HIV, creates hope for gene-therapy strategies
Study finds genetically engineered immune cells can detect HIV in disguise
Obama likely to reverse Bush administration global prevention policies focused primarily on abstinence and anti-abortion
Merck’s experimental vaccine candidate may have increased risk for HIV, study finds
GSK announces HIV Patient Savings Card
Bone marrow transplant suppresses HIV, creates hope for gene-therapy strategies
A 42-year old HIV-positive U.S. man living in Germany received a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia two years ago and his HIV viral load has been undetectable ever since, in the absence of antiretroviral therapy.
The procedure was performed by German hematologist (blood specialist) Gero Hutter of the Charite Medical University in Berlin. Hutter replaced the patient’s bone marrow with that of a donor who possesses a natural gene mutation which makes him immune to almost all strains of HIV.
Prior to the transplant, Hutter’s patient was given a standard dose of treatment and radiation to kill his own blood marrow, which in turn also destroyed many of the cells in his body that store HIV. The original plan was to have him return to his regular HIV regimen once HIV reappeared in his blood, which has not happened to date.
The particular mutation responsible for this prevents the appearance of a receptor (CCR5) that HIV uses to bind to and infect certain cells. It is estimated that about 1% of Europeans possess this mutation, while people of African, Asian, and South American descent almost never carry it.
Hutter has referred to his patient as “functionally cured,” though other researchers contend that it is likely not practical for this treatment to become widely used, primarily due to cost and the high rate of death associated with bone marrow transplants (10 to 20% of the people who received them died). Researchers are hopeful though, that this breakthrough will spark greater interest in the study of gene therapy to fight HIV.
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Study finds genetically engineered immune cells can detect HIV in disguise
According to a recent report, researchers have genetically altered T-cells taken from an HIV-positive man to be able to detect HIV, even when it tries to disguise itself.
In lab dishes, these T-cells were able to slow down the spread of the virus, suggesting a potential new way of treating HIV. The engineered T-cells, according to the researchers, also responded in a much more vigorous fashion, needing fewer of them than would otherwise be necessary to control infection.
“In the face of our engineered assassin cells, the virus will either die or be forced to change its disguises again,” said Andy Sewell of Britian’s Cardiff University, a co-author of the study.
Aside from attacking human T-cells, which helps mount the body’s defense against it, HIV is able to disguise itself by hiding a protein called HLA-I-associated antigen.
“We have managed to engineer a receptor that is able to detect HIV’s key fingerprints and is able to clear HIV infection in the laboratory,” said Bent (double-check: Brent??) Jakobsen, chief scientific officer at the British firm that owns the technology.
“Billions of these anti-HIV warriors can be generated in two weeks.”
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Obama likely to reverse Bush administration global prevention policies focused primarily on abstinence and anti-abortion
President-elect Barack Obama is expected to make changes in policies that affect U.S. global HIV prevention and family planning initiatives, according to Susan Wood, a co-chair of Obama’s advisory committee for women’s health.
Though President Bush’s global health plans, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), have increased the amount of assistance that the U.S. provides to developing countries by more than that of any other president, Wood suggests that family planning and STI prevention planning efforts have been minimized by existing requirements that impose abstinence-only education.
“We have been going in the wrong direction, and we need to turn it around and be promoting prevention and family planning services and strengthening public health,” said Wood, according to Bloomberg News. She says that Obama is “committed to looking at all this and changing the policies so that family planning services – both in the U.S. and the developing world – reflect what works, what helps prevent unintended pregnancy, reduces maternal and infant mortality, [and] prevents the spread of disease.”
Proponents of abstinence-only based education are against such changes and suggest that Bush’s policies have indeed been effective, citing the reduction of new HIV infections in countries such as Uganda as evidence.
“If the president-elect wants to be science-based in foreign sex education policies, it would be wisest to continue in this way because it’s shown to be effective,” said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.
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Merck’s experimental vaccine candidate may have increased risk for HIV, study finds
Yet another trial of a once-promising HIV vaccine being developed by Merck and Co. was stopped in 2007 because it may have increased the odds of infection rather than preventing it, a recent study reports.
According to researchers at the Montepellier Institute of Molecular Genetics, the vaccine used a modified form of the common cold virus to carry parts of HIV into body.
Initially, Merck believed that the smaller parts of the virus would trigger the human immune system to begin fighting off actual infection with the virus, if it were to later occur. Those who had previously developed immunity to the modified cold virus, however, developed HIV at a significantly higher rate than those who had not received the vaccine at all.
The vaccine was in the second stage of trials when the problem was discovered. Researchers say that it was able to make it to this stage because primates, which were used in the first phase, do not naturally come into contact with the human common cold virus and, therefore, the problem went unrecognized.
At the time that it was halted, the experimental vaccine was being tested in 700 HIV-negative people in five South African hospitals, making it the largest clinical HIV trial ever to be conducted in Africa.
The study is published online at the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
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GSK announces HIV Patient Savings Card
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), maker of several drugs used to fight HIV, recently announced the launch of a new Patient Savings Card designed to help improve compliance among eligible participants by reducing their out-of-pocket expenses for GSK HIV medications.
Through this program, patients are eligible to save up to $100 each month – for each of their GSK HIV medicines – for up to two years following their first use of the card. Patients can enroll in the program by visiting their doctor and asking about it. Eligible individuals include patients who are paying out-of pocket costs and whose prescriptions are not covered by Medicaid, Medicare, ADAP, or any other Federal or State assistance program.
Some restrictions may apply, and more information about the program is avaialble at www.mysupportcard.com.
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Special 20th Anniversary Issue in
January/February
Positively Aware celebrates its 20th anniversary, going back to its origin as TPA News, with a special issue in January/February 2009. The annual drug guide will be published in March/April instead. If you have any reminiscences or updates about your experiences at TPAN or with Positively Aware that you’d like to share, especially from the early days, please submit them to publications@tpan.com, to our mailing address, or in our online forum by November 24. |
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