Study Reveals, New Antibody Therapy Can Treat HIV

Scientists have developed a new antibody-based drug which has the capability to reduce the growth of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the body and it is also proved to be a better strategy for controlling the long-term deadly infection.

According to a report published in Tech Times, United Nations state that nearly 15.8 million people all over the world were receiving treatment for HIV in 2015. Simian Immunodeficiency infects various primate species and is considered to be the major origin of HIV. An international research team, consisting of scientists from German Primate Centre, conducted a study on SIV-infected rhesus macaques. They were treated with an antiretroviral drug for 90 days along with a specific antibody for 23 weeks.

At the end of the therapy, all the macaques showed a positive control of the infection with an absence of all the SI viruses. The therapy leads to the damage of all the SI viruses from the blood and gastrointestinal tissues. The CD4+ T cells are important for a healthy immune system. According to the study conducted, the macaques were guaranteed a healthy and safe health in the coming years.

This new strategy offers a unique and gifted approach to the therapy of HIV infections in humans. Antiretroviral therapy is the most common kind of therapy used today, to treat the HIV infections. These drugs block the production of HIV's in the infected cells and thus, delays the inception of the disease. But, these drugs need to be controlled permanently to avoid the re-birth of the virus.

As per NDTV, Lutz Walter of Primate Genetics Laboratory, "The motive of the study was to find out a new and latest therapeutic approach for the treatment of infections with immunodeficiency viruses." The antibody which was used to treat the macaques is a therapeutic monoclonal antibody, known as Vedolizumab and is available since 2014 in the US and Europe.

The scientists are planning to test this therapy in HIV patients to yield a positive and better result. The researchers are looking forward to spreading the combination of Vedolizumab and antiretroviral to more countries across the globe.