The “strong antibodies” succeeded in erasing all traces of the AIDS virus in monkeys within 3 to 7 days.
American scientists have just made a discovery that could quite simply revolutionize AIDS research. According to a study published Wednesday, October 30 in the scientific magazine Nature antibodies tested on monkeys could pave the way for new discoveries about the AIDS virus, and possibly even future treatment.
Two studies, carried out at Harvard and the National Institute of Allergy and Infecious Diseases, tested the effectiveness of “powerful antibodies” on macaques infected with a mixture of HIV and its ape-like equivalent (SHIV). As the BBC website notes, data from the Harvard team showed that “the injection of these antibodies removed the virus from the blood of guinea pig monkeys, until it was completely undetectable, by 3 to 7 days ”. An effect that lasted between one and three months before the virus reappeared. But “in 3 cases, the SHIV never reappeared during 250 days of the study”. Results which are therefore extremely encouraging.
According to Dan Barouch, professor at Harvard Medical School, “the effect of his ‘strong antibodies’ is profound and unprecedented. This is probably the largest therapeutic antiviral effect ever ”. It remains to be seen whether these results can be applied to humans. AIDS is an incurable disease but there are treatments such as triple therapy which allows patients to have an almost normal life expectancy. If these antibodies, which will now be tested in humans, were effective, they could be prescribed in addition to triple therapy, or even be used for the constitution of a vaccine.
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