New therapeutic vaccine approach holds promise for HIV remission
New therapeutic vaccine approach holds promise for HIV remission
Combining an experimental vaccine with an innate immune stimulant may help lead to viral remission in people living with HIV. (stock image)
Credit: © jarun011 / Fotolia
A study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), in collaboration with scientists at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson and Gilead Sciences, Inc., has demonstrated that combining an experimental vaccine with an innate immune stimulant may help lead to viral remission in people living with HIV. In animal trials, the combination decreased levels of viral DNA in peripheral blood and lymph nodes, and improved viral suppression and delayed viral rebound following discontinuation of anti-retroviral therapy (ART). The research team's findings appeared online today in the journal Nature.
"The objective of our study was to identify a functional cure for HIV -- not to eradicate the virus, but to control it without the need for ART," said lead author Dan Barouch, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at BIDMC. "Current antiretroviral drugs, although they're lifesaving, do not cure HIV. They merely hold it in check. We are trying to develop strategies to achieve ART-free, long-term viral suppression."
Typically, vaccines "teach" the body to rid itself of viral invaders by provoking an immune response. However, HIV attacks cells of the immune system. The virus kills the majority of infected immune cells but goes dormant in others. This reservoir of dormant, infected cells, where researchers believe HIV remains hidden during antiretroviral therapy, is the primary reason HIV cannot currently be cured. Barouch and colleagues are working on strategies to draw the virus out of hiding with the goal of eradicating it from the body.
"We reasoned that if we can activate the immune cells that might harbor the virus, then the vaccine-induced immune responses might perform better seeking them out and destroying them," said Barouch, who is also a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Indeed, we saw the best results when we combined the vaccine together with the innate immune stimulant."
No comments