American researchers have demonstrated the interest of bnAbs antibodies in the fight against AIDS. They could make it possible to create a new treatment or even be used in a preventive manner.
25,000 people in France are unaware of their HIV status according to Sida Info Service. 75,000 HIV self-tests were sold that same year in pharmacies. The challenge for researchers today is to find a drug that would act as protection against AIDS.
Some antibodies are effective in preventing HIV, and could be used as treatment according to American researchers. Their study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The effectiveness of bnAbs antibodies
BnAbs are HIV neutralizing antibodies, but the virus has the ability to mutate and become resistant to these antibodies. A bnAb alone therefore does not make it possible to fight against all the forms of HIV which may be present in the body of an infected individual. Scientists are therefore interested in the combinations of different bnAbs.
The combination of three of these antibodies has been shown to be effective in animals. “We think that the bnAbs are like signposts, they show a path that could be followed for the development of a future vaccine against AIDS through the introduction of bnAbs capable of preventing HIV infection”, explains David Margolis, co-author of the study.
Less restrictive treatment
If these antibodies are a hope for the creation of a vaccine, they will also be used in treatment for infected people. They could help reduce the number of times taken, and in combination with other medicinal agents, they could help rid the body of the virus.
HIV research is progressing, in early January a study published in Nature Communications indicated the possibility of weekly treatment to cure the disease. Today, people with HIV must take their triple therapy every day.
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