Hopes for HIV Cure? Not Even Quite

On 14th November, 2008, "Science Now Daily News" there was a controversial comment from John Cohen, who remarked "A Cure for AIDS? Not Quite." According to him, yet another rash of stories touting a putative HIV/AIDS cure has gripped the media. This one involve a man with both Leukemia and HIV, who received a specially engineered stem cell transplant aimed at both treating his cancer and HIV infection. As the "Wall Street Journal" first reported on 18th Nov, 2008, for nearly 2 Years, the man has not taken anti-HIV drugs, and his doctors have found the virus in his blood.

The basic science behind the transplant makes good sense. The man is an American living in Germany, was given chemotherapy and radiation to ablate his blood cells at "Charite Hospital" in Berlin. Then, he received a bone marrow transplant of stem cells from a person who naturally had a genetic nutrition that disrupts a protein called the CCRS receptor. HIV uses this receptor to enter cells, and they becomes resistant to HIV infection when it is crippled. Several gene-therapy studies are under way that exploit similar strategies (Science, 3 August 2007, Page no. 612 Of Science Now Daily News Site). As with every previous HIV/AIDS cure story, however this one has a Long list of Caveats, because a true cure for example, wound means that an infected person has become virus tree. But as the man's doctor, Gero Hatter, acknowledged at a recent meeting on viral persistence and eradication held by the American Foundation for AIDS Research, low levels of HIV can escape detection by all, but the most sensitive teats and these tests have not yet been done on the patients blood.

However, every time "Cured" people's blood has been examined with these techniques in the past in the past, researchers have found the virus. Indeed, participants at the "American Foundation for AIDS Research" meeting agreed to dub the man only "functionally" cured. It is possible, if not likely, that he harbors the virus in tiny quantities in cells that were not ablate before his transplant.

Other caveats further underscore the limitation of above mentioned advance Ablating a persons bone marrow and then transfusing them with another cells is a high risk procedure leading to death in upto one-third of patients. Getto conference in Berlin on 12th November, 2008.
"The Therapy has such a high mortality rate that it cannot be justified clinically other than in this special situation where the patient has to have a transplant due to avolter illness". In order to reduce falls hopes. The Proceed also cost around $250,000, which puts it out of reach for most HIV infect people in the world. Health problems even with HIV may well find a way into his fortified blood cells. People, who naturally have mutated CCRS genes and thus no functioning receptor have become infected when HIV exploits a related Cellular receptor.

Resistance doesnot equal full protection. Its a proof of concept for gene therapy but not a cure", says Marco Stevenson

In concluding remarks. I am of the opinion that the procedures may please be continued till a single example of full eradication of HIV is established and till such time we should extend all efforts to educate the concept, proceeding in regards to the therapeutic treatments and hopes to the diseased persons all over the World.

Written by Biswanath Das, Thanks to him Specially to Publish such and interesting story/ Article at Daily Linked
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