Revolution in Treating and Preventing HIV

A recent study performed by collaboration of US and South African scientists found out that blood of KwaZulu-Natal woman is able to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies reacting on an HIV infection.

According to a new study performed by scientists of the US and South Africa, in a research on KwaZulu-Natal woman they out that her body produced potent antibodies when an HIV infection was injected. This may cause a revolution in treating and preventing HIV. As all human bodies do produce antibodies when an HIV infection occurs, mostly all antibodies produced are not able to kill viruses of broad spectrum. This study however, found broadly neutralizing antibodies, aimed at all HIV types.

The antibodies discovered are called neutralizing antibodies because of their abilities to kill multiple HIV strains from across the world. The study on them has been published in Nature on Sunday, a prestigious scientific journal. In a study they described the process of discovery of antibodies in blood of KwaZulu-Natal woman and the way they managed to duplicate the antibodies in the laboratory.

After that the scientists were able to use the cloned antibodies in a series of different experiments to elucidate the pathway of woman's immune system in producing these potent antibodies.

The scientists of CAPRISA (Center for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa) and the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectuous Diseases, in National Institutes of Health and Columbia University in New York performed the research collaborately.

This research brings high hopes for future HIV prevention and treatment strategies, according to professor Salim Abdool Karim, the leader of Caprisa consortium. He reports that the woman whose blood was used in the study is well, attends the clinic regularly and is on antiretroviral therapy.

The study is a part of a 10-point program launched by Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in 2009 and every year it continues to bring good results.

Just a year ago, the same group of scientists brought the news that according to a study performed on 2 KwaZulu Natal women. The research claimed that a minor shift in a sugar molecule on the viruse's surface led to it producing broadly neutralizing antibodies. This year, the scientists managed to trace the origins of this broad antibody and understand how did it arise.