When we talk about immunotherapy, we mainly think of cancer treatments. However, this approach could also be beneficial for treating AIDS patients, according to a new scientific study published in the journal Nature.
Currently, these are the treatments antiretrovirals who are privileged. They are intended only to stop the spread of the HIV virus in the body and do not eradicate the disease.
Immunotherapy, on the other hand, aims to boost the patient’s immune system so that it directly attacks the virus.
Until then inconclusive, this approach has given good results in a phase I clinical trial conducted by researchers at Rockefeller University in New York in the United States. A single dose of antibody (a protein of the immune system) called 3BNC117, after injection in seropositive people, neutralized the AIDS virus for several weeks. This substance would actually attack the patient’s immune system, which becomes weakened as the virus spreads through the body.
The trial was carried out on 12 HIV-negative people as well as 17 HIV-positive people with HIV. Larger or smaller doses of the antibody were injected, but the higher dose resulted in the greatest decrease in viral load, the amount of virus per milliliter of blood. This drop in viral load was particularly marked between the 4th and 28th day after the injection. The load returned to its original level before injection after 56 days, in four out of eight cases.
In view of these observations, the researchers believe that “monotherapy with only 3BNC117 is insufficient to control the infection and probably a combination of antibody substances will be necessary to completely control the viral load. Anyway, and if the study is still flawed, the researchers consider the path of immunotherapy to be promising. And if its cost is higher than that of antiretroviral treatments, its prolonged effectiveness is all the more interesting and must be seriously considered.
Next step for the research team: test the antigen on HIV-positive people also treated with antiretrovirals, or even evaluate its effectiveness Prevention HIV infection.
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