A possible cure for HIV

Scientists have been researching a way to cure HIV since 1987; the first known treatment was called Zidovudine, an antiretroviral medication. They have come a long way since then having possibly cured HIV in a woman.

"HIV and Gene Regulation Research" by NIAID is marked with CC BY 2.0.

Scientists have been researching a way to cure HIV since 1987; the first known treatment was called Zidovudine, an antiretroviral medication. They have come a long way since then having possibly cured HIV in a woman.

Annie Elizandro, Ranger Review reporter

The Division of AIDS has possibly cured HIV in a woman for the first time. The woman, whose identity has been kept private, has not had any symptoms of HIV for fourteen months. 

 

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV was first reported in the U.S. in 1981. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 79.3 million have been infected with the virus. Not only is HIV an STD, a sexually transmitted disease, but it can also be transferred through blood. HIV can eventually progress into AIDs which has killed 36.3 million people. 

 

While this is the first time that HIV has been cured in a woman, it has already been cured in two men. The first person that was possibly cured was Timothy Ray Brown in 2007. Brown chose to remain anonymous until 2010. He later died in September of 2020. His death was due to the Leukemia he was being treated for when he was cured of HIV.

 

“He was such a symbol of hope for so many people living with HIV and an inspiration for those of us working toward a cure,” Fred Hutchinson, ‘Cancer Research Center’ virologist who knew Brown because of his research to help replicate the cure, said. 

 

The second person cured was Adam Castillejo in 2020. The man was not cured because of HIV treatment. He was also suffering from cancer. Castillejo was cured through a bone marrow transplant. The stem cells that he received from the transplant had a rare gene that allowed protection against HIV. 

 

“This represents HIV cure with almost certainty,” Ravindra Kumar Gupta, lead researcher from the University of Cambridge, said. “We have now had two and a half years with anti-retroviral-free remission. Our findings show that the success of stem-cell transplantation as a cure for HIV, first reported nine years ago in the Berlin Patient, can be replicated.”

 

There are now reports that for the first time HIV has been cured in a woman. The treatment used was different from when they cured the men before her. The new treatment used blood cells from umbilical cords. This means that more people of different races and ethnicities can be cured of the virus. 

 

The woman was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2013. She was given a blood donation from a relative at the same time as blood from an anonymous donor from an umbilical cord. The blood from the umbilical cord takes about six weeks to take effect so she had the blood from a relative to support her and set up her immune system for the new cells. 

 

“Umbilical stem cells are attractive,” Dr. Deeks, an expert on AIDs at the University of California, said. “There’s something magical about these cells and something magical perhaps about the cord blood in general that provides an extra benefit.”