Four-Year Remission In Monkey Offers New Clue For HIV Research
What Happened
Researchers led by scientists at the University of California, Davis tested an experimental CCR5/CD3 antibody in infant rhesus macaques infected with SIV, a virus related to HIV. The antibody was given once alongside early antiretroviral treatment and is designed to direct T cells against CCR5-carrying cells that can harbour or become infected by the virus. After antiretroviral drugs were stopped, every animal receiving the drugs alone experienced viral rebound within a week. Some antibody-treated animals remained in remission longer, and one monkey had no detectable virus in its blood throughout four years of follow-up. The study was published in Nature Microbiology.
Key Takeaways
The result offers a promising approach for targeting the hidden viral reservoir that allows HIV-like viruses to return after treatment stops. But this was an animal study, and the approach has not yet been shown to work in humans.