HIV/AIDS research includes all medical research that tries to prevent, treat or cure HIV/AIDS, as well as fundamental research on the nature of HIV as an infectious agent and AIDS as a disease caused by HIV..
Video HIV/AIDS research
Transmission
A bunch of scientific evidence has shown that circumcised men are less likely to contract HIV than uncircumcised men. The study, published in 2014, concluded that sex hormones estrogen and progesterone selectively have an impact on HIV transmission.
Pre and post-exposure prophylaxis
"Pre-exposure prophylaxis" refers to the practice of taking several drugs before exposure to HIV infection, and has a lower likelihood of contracting HIV as a result of taking the drug. Post-exposure prophylaxis refers to taking a few drugs quickly after exposure to HIV, while the virus is present in a person's body but before the virus establishes itself. In both cases, drugs will be the same as those used to treat people with HIV, and the intention of taking drugs is to eradicate the virus before the person becomes infected irreversibly.
Post-exposure prophylaxis is recommended to anticipate cases of HIV exposure, such as if a nurse has somehow had blood-to-blood contact with a patient on a course of work, or if someone without HIV asks for the drug immediately after unprotected sex with someone who may be infected with HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis is sometimes an option for HIV negative people who feel they are at an increased risk of HIV infection, such as HIV-negative people in serodiscordant and HIV-positive partners.
Current research in this agency includes drug development, efficacy testing, and practice recommendations for using drugs for HIV prevention.
Maps HIV/AIDS research
In-host dynamics
The dynamics of in-host HIV infection include the spread of in vivo virus, the formation of latency, the effect of immune responses to the virus, etc. Initial studies used a simple model and only considered the spread of HIV free of cells, in which particles nest from infected T cells, insert blood/extracellular fluid, and then infect other T cells. A 2015 study proposes a more realistic model of HIV dynamics that also incorporates the mechanism of cell-to-viral cell deployment, in which the virus directly moves from one cell to another, as well as activation of T cells, cellular immune responses, and immune fatigue when the infection progresses.
Virus characteristics
A 2014 study with SIV found that the virus initially formed a reservoir in the gut. Viral infections provoke inflammatory response of paneth cells in the gut, helping to spread the virus by causing tissue damage. These findings offer new clues to possible future care, testing (biomarkers), and help to explain the viral resistance to antiviral therapy. The study also identified the bacterial strain Lactobacillus plantarum, which reverses the damage by rapidly reducing IL-1? (Interleukin-1 beta). The absorption of HIV in the body begins within a few days, during the acute phase of HIV infection.
HIV/AIDS Management
Research to improve current treatments includes reducing the side effects of current drugs, further simplifying drug regimens to improve adherence, and determining a better set of regimens to manage drug resistance. There are variations in the health community on recommendations on what treatments a physician should advise people with HIV. One question, for example, is to determine when a physician should recommend that a patient take antiretroviral drugs and what drugs the doctor recommends. This field also includes the development of antiretroviral drugs.
Effect of age acceleration due to HIV-1 infection
Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV) is associated with accelerated aging clinical symptoms, as evidenced by an increase in the incidence and diversity of age-related diseases at a relatively young age. Significant effects of age acceleration can be detected in the brain (7.4 years) and blood (5.2 years) of tissue due to HIV-1 infection with the help of aging biomarkers, known as epigenetic clocks.
Long-term nonprogressor
A long-term nonprogressor is a person infected with HIV, but whose body, for whatever reason, naturally controls the virus so that the infection does not progress to the stage of AIDS. Such people are very attractive to researchers, who feel that their physiological studies can provide a deeper understanding of viruses and diseases.
HIV vaccine
The HIV vaccine is a vaccine that will be given to someone who does not have HIV, to provide protection against subsequent HIV exposure, thereby reducing the likelihood that the person will be infected by HIV. Currently, there is no effective HIV vaccine. Various HIV vaccines have been tested in clinical trials almost since the discovery of HIV.
Only vaccines are considered capable of stopping the pandemic. This is because the vaccine will be cheaper, making it affordable for developing countries, and will not require daily maintenance. However, after more than 20 years of research, HIV-1 remains a difficult target for vaccines.
In 2003, clinical trials in Thailand tested an HIV vaccine called RV 144. In 2009, researchers reported that the vaccine showed some efficacy in protecting recipients from HIV infection. The results of this trial provide the first supporting evidence of any vaccine that is effective in reducing the risk of contracting HIV. Another vaccine that may be derived from new gene therapy that permanently converts the CCR5 co-receptor, prevents HIV from entering the cell. Other vaccine trials continue throughout the world.
One of the latest and most promising trials was conducted by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) who found a way to connect antibodies against HIV to immune cells, creating populations of HIV-resistant cells.
Microbicides for sexually transmitted diseases
Microbicides for sexually transmitted diseases are gels that will be applied to the skin - perhaps rectal microbicides for people who have anal sex or vaginal microbicides for people who have vaginal sex - and if infected body fluids such as blood or semen touch the gel, then HIV in fluids it will be destroyed and people who have sex will tend to spread the infection among themselves.
On March 7, 2013, the Washington University website at St. Louis published a report by Strait Julia Evangelou, where it was reported that ongoing nanoparticle research showed that nanoparticles charged with various compounds could be used to target infectious agents while leaving unaffected healthy cells.. In a study detailed by this report, it was found that Mellitin-loaded nanoparticles, compounds found in Bee's toxins, could transport agents to HIV, causing the breakdown of external proteins from viruses. This, they say, could lead to the production of vaginal gels that can help prevent infection by paralyzing the virus. Dr Joshua Hood went on to explain that beyond preventative measures in topical gel form, he sees "the potential for using nanoparticles with melittin as a therapy for existing HIV infections, especially those who are drug resistant.N Nanoparticles can be injected intravenously and, in theory, will be able to cleanse HIV from the bloodstream. "
Stem cell transplant
In 2007, Timothy Ray Brown, a 40-year-old HIV-positive man, also known as the "Berlin Patient", was given stem cell transplantation as part of his treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The second transplant was done a year later after the recurrence. The donors were selected not only for genetic compatibility but also because of homozygous for CCR5-3 mutations that provide immunity to HIV infection. After 20 months without ART, it was reported that blood levels of HIV, bone marrow, and Brown's intestine were below the detection limit. The virus remained undetectable for three years after the first transplant. Although researchers and some commentators have characterized this outcome as a drug, others suggest that the virus may remain hidden in tissues such as the brain (which acts as a virus reservoir). Stem cell treatment remains investigated for its anecdotal, disease and risk of death associated with stem cell transplants, and difficulty finding suitable donors.
Gene therapy based on stem cells
In the past 7 years, scientists have used different stem cell-based gene therapy approaches in an effort to develop healing as well as propose alternatives to conventional antiretroviral therapy (ART). In particular, progress has been made with the drug for HIV.
A cellular receptor, generally CCR5 or CXCR4 is required for HIV to enter CD4 cells. Individual cells homozygous for the CCR5 gene variant? 32 (CCR5? 32/? 32) did not have CCR5 cell surface expression, which means that they are naturally resistant to infection with CCR5 (HIV R5) tropical HIV strains. One study conducted in 2011 achieved the successful reconstitution of CD4 cell cells as a result of CCR5 stem cell transplantation? 32/? 32 at the systemic level and in the intestinal mucosal immune system in patients with HIV. In addition, it provides evidence for a reduction in the size of HIV storage potential over time. Patients in this study even remained HIV-free without evidence of more than 3.5 years.
Other theoretical drugs for HIV-1 have been proposed. One drug that is supposed to be HIV-1 involves the creation of disease-resistant immune systems through autologous, gene-modified (HIV-1-resistant) and progenitor cell transplantation (GM-HSPC) transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells. Although this study involved some early clinical trials that have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of this technique only for HIV-1, nothing has resulted in an increase in the state of the disease itself. Therefore, this strategy is intended to follow existing treatment techniques such as medicines and vaccines. However, the future technology of this single-cell therapy therapy approach has the potential to replace current therapy altogether as a functional or sterilizing drug for HIV-1.
An additional study involves the use of hematopoietic stem cell CD34 and genetically engineered progenitor cells. Experimental long-term in vivo HIV gene therapy has a major problem because both transductions end up with multiple copies of heterologous DNA in target cells and the low effectiveness of cell transduction during transplantation. This study demonstrates the efficacy of the transplantation approach which ultimately allows for rich HSPC populations to express one copy of CCR5 miRNA. Because cells that are modified positively may not be enough below the threshold they found from at least 70% of HIV target cells that resulted in gene modification of efficient CD34 T cell maintenance and low viral titer, the findings suggest evidence that clinical gene therapy protocol HIV requires selectively selective enrichment of cells that are selectively targeted.
Immunomodulatory agents
Complementing efforts to control viral replication, immunotherapy that can help restore the immune system has been explored in past and ongoing trials, including IL-2 and IL-7.
Failure of vaccine candidates to protect against HIV infection and progression to AIDS has led to a renewed focus on the biological mechanisms responsible for HIV latency. A limited period of therapy combining anti retroviral with drugs targeting a latent reservoir may one day allow for total eradication of HIV infection. Researchers have found abzymes that can destroy the binding sites of the gp120 CD4 protein. This protein is common to all variants of HIV because it is the attachment point for B lymphocytes and the subsequent compromise of the immune system.
New developments
The turning point for HIV research took place in 2007, after bone marrow transplant from HIV patient Timothy Ray Brown. Brown underwent a procedure after he developed leukemia and a bone marrow donor had a rare genetic mutation that caused Brown cells to become resistant to HIV. Brown achieved the title "Berlin Patient" in the field of HIV research and was the first person to have recovered from the virus. In April 2013, two main approaches are being pursued in HIV drug search: The first is gene therapy aimed at developing an HIV-resistant immune system for patients, and the second is being led by Danish scientists, who conduct clinical trials to strip HIV out of Human DNA and destroy it permanently by the immune system.
Two other cases with Brown similarity have occurred since the discovery of 2007; However, they are different because the transplanted marrow has not been confirmed as mutated. The cases were published in a CNN July 2013 story that conveys the experiences of two patients who have used antiretroviral therapy for years before they developed lymphoma, lymph node cancer. They then undergo urinary lymphoma and bone marrow transplant therapy, but still use an antiretroviral regimen; while they maintain HIV traces four months later, six to nine months after transplantation, both patients have no detectable HIV traces in their blood. However, the managing physician. Timothy Heinrich stated at the International AIDS Society Malaysia Conference where the findings were presented:
It is possible, once again, that the virus can return within a week, it can come back in a month - in fact, some mathematical modeling predicts that viruses can even return one to two years after we stop antiretroviral therapy, so we really do not know what effect long term or full of stem cell transplants and viral persistence.
In March 2016, researchers at Temple University, Philadelphia, reported that they had used genome editing to remove HIV from T cells. According to the researchers, this approach could lead to dramatic viral load reductions in patient cells.
In April 2016, Innovative Bioresearch, a private company owned by research scientist Jonathan Fior, reported the results of a pilot study pilot that explores the infusion of SupT1 cells as cell-based therapy for HIV in humanized mice models. This new cell-based therapy uses irradiated SupT1 cells as bait targets for HIV to prevent CD4 T-cell thinning and to make the virus less cytopathic. Studies show that in animals treated with infusions of SupT1 cells, plasma viral loads were significantly lower (~ 10-fold) and the frequency of preserved CD4 T cells observed at week 1, with one animal showing complete suppression of viral replication and CD4 T preservation number of cells (no viruses detected again on Sunday 3 and 4). Interestingly, as also mentioned in an earlier paper by the same author Jonathan Fior, an in vitro study of HIV evolution suggests that prolonged viral replication in the SupT1 cell line produces fewer cytopathic viruses with reduced capacity for the formation of syncytium, which is higher. sensitivity to neutralization, increased replication of SupT1 cells and interruption of primary CD4 T-cell infection. According to the study, this suggests that in vivo viral replication in infused SupT1 cells should also have a vaccination effect.
See also
- The discovery and development of CCR5 receptor antagonists
- The discovery and development of HIV protease inhibitors
- Invention and development of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
- Health interventions
- HIV Superinfection
- The origins of HIV and AIDS
- Sex education
References
External links
- HIV and AIDS News (ScienceDaily)
- HIV and AIDS News (Today Medical News)
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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