New Study Puts Us Closer To HIV Cure

There’s more hope in the future for curing HIV.

A new study found that an experimental HIV vaccine coupled with an immune system-stimulating compound showed signs for a cure.

Using monkeys with a virus equivalent to human’s HIV, the combination of the vaccine and compound reduced the virus to undetectable levels without antiretroviral treatments, according to Huffington Post.

Unlike antiretroviral treatment, which keeps HIV at low levels in the body, this vaccine and immune system compound could actually lead to a cure.

Lead study investigator, Dan Barouch, infected 36 monkeys with a virus similar to HIV. Then, he gave the monkeys an antiretroviral treatment to suppress virus levels.

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After six months, the virus rebounded in some of the monkeys. But for the monkeys that were given the vaccine and immune system compound, it took 2.5 times longer for the virus to return.

“If all the animals went undetectable in the absence of [antiretroviral treatment], that would have been a home run,” said Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research. “I would say that what we achieved was a solid base hit, and it’s something that we can work from.”

To date, there is no cure for HIV. However, HIV-positive patients are able to live longer, healthier lives than ever before with the use of…

…antiretroviral treatment – which consists of taking medication daily with regular doctor visits.

The next step is to test the vaccine and immune-system compound in humans who are HIV positive. Researchers hope this could lead to a cure for HIV.

“We do see this as an advance in terms of increasing our understanding of the ability of vaccines or innate immune stimulators to provide antiviral effects,” Barouch told Huffington Post. “We hope the results in humans will allow us to continue to improve this strategy.”