Two annual HIV injections: Antibody therapy relieves several patients of daily antiretrovirals

If the suffering from AIDS stopped the death sentence years ago, it’s the merit of antiretroviral drugs, medicines that manage HIV control and which have been the salvation of millions of infected people. However, in some cases they either have no effect, or have serious side effects, in addition to requiring strict discipline when administering them, often on a daily basis. Now the American group has reached an alternative therapy that controls the virus through a sporadic combination of antibodies in the blood, a type of protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize viruses and bacteria, although in this case they set up a laboratory. Progress, Which publishes a journal ᲑუნებაSuggests freeing patients from harmful influences and calendar slavery.

“Our data show that combination therapy with antibodies (…) can provide long-term viral inhibition without antiretroviral therapy in HIV-positive individuals, and our experience provides guidance for future clinical trials involving a new generation of antibodies,” the authors note.

In addition, the article notes that the difficulties in maintaining the life expectancy of medications, long-term side effects, and the potential for the development of antiretroviral-resistant viruses have led to intensive research aimed at developing new therapies to achieve “sustainable virological remission.” It is necessary to take antiretrovirals daily.

Fight against the “sleeping reservoir”

These widely used drugs are able to reduce the viral load in patients, but they are ineffective against the so-called “latent or stable reservoir”: virus deposits that remain in infected individuals are hidden in the cells of the immune system. These dormant viruses do not multiply in the presence of antiretrovirals. However, if the patient stops taking the medication, they quickly return to the charge.

“Complete elimination of the permanent reservoir of HIV in an infected individual is impossible with the currently available approaches and therapies,” the authors note. That is why they offer a “more realistic” alternative to cure, which may be through immune therapy, which aims to achieve maximum viral inhibition throughout life, and generally without the need for daily antiretroviral treatment, “and without eliminating the permanent reservoir. In HIV-infected people. ”

Specifically, this therapy consists of injecting two monoclonal antibodies (i.e., laboratory-made ones) by three intravenous injections over six weeks.

Without side effects

Tests on volunteers were conducted from September 2018 to January 2021, although the coronavirus pandemic forced some procedures to be reduced. In general, volunteers reported several side effects (several cases of fever removed with ibuprofen).

Seven participants who stopped taking antiretrovirals and taking placebo experienced a recurrence of the virus. Five of the other seven participants who received the antibody injections were able to maintain the virus, in some cases for more than eight months. The authors acknowledge that the sample is limited and that “much larger” research is needed. Without unforeseen immunological and virological disorders.

He adds that because laboratories produce the next generation of antibodies with greater amplitude and longer half-lives (more than 60 days), ” “Long-term (for years) inhibition in infected people without antiretrovirals.”

Source: El Diario

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