There Might Actually Be A Cure For HIV In The Near Future

The scientific community has recently identified a primary phenomenon standing in the way of discovering an effective cure for HIV. Fortunately, researchers from Cornell have also been given a new grant of 3.4 million US dollars to research further on the phenomenon, overcoming the issue that has been keeping the world from eliminating HIV.

The phenomenon that has been limiting the cure for HIV

It is known that HIV multiplies by attacking our immune cells. Because of this phenomenon, it severely affects our body’s ability to fight infections, eventually leading to the development of AIDS.

The current scientific research conducted focuses on CD4 T cells, the immune cells that help coordinate our body’s immune response by stimulating fellow immune cells, such as CD8 T cells, B lymphocytes, and macrophages. When HIV enters our body, it weakens our immune system by eliminating the CD4 T cells. Because it affects multiple immune cells, this phenomenon has made HIV an incurable infection today.

When an individual is infected with HIV, the CD4 T cells are eliminated. Antiretroviral medications may help to suppress the infecting process from further multiplying. As a result, the CD4 T cells are able to recover, restoring our immune response to undetectable status.

This might sound like a success. However, as mentioned earlier, HIV does not only affect CD4 T cells but also other immune cells, such as macrophages. The thing is that current antiretroviral medications do not target affected macrophages. Hence, a hidden HIV reservoir is still present in the body.

In addition, an interesting point of macrophages is that they do not experience cellular death when infected by HIV. Instead, they become reservoirs storing latent HIV infection that could reactivate once the individual stops taking their antiretroviral medication. This is why HIV is a permanent infection.

The aim of the new research and the hope of discovering an HIV cure

Cornell researchers hope to examine host cell regulatory pathways that are able to impact the presence of HIV reservoirs, eliminating them altogether. At this point in time, there is a library of 735 epigenetic inhibitors known to the scientific and medical communities. Out of the 635 epigenetic inhibitors, only 70 have been approved by various FDA regulations. These 70 will then be tested for their ability to cause HIV-infected macrophages to die.

Whenever such an ability is identified, it can then be administered alongside antiretroviral medications to prevent new infections, eliminating it altogether.

Previous research found that macrophages’ pro-survival pathways are activated when infected with HIV. The new research hopes to study this process, pinpointing ways to alter such a response. Macrophages are vital in our body’s immune response to external threats. They are able to move from one part of the body to another when a pathogen has been detected. Additionally, they have longer lives as compared to other immune cells.

Hence, macrophages alongside monocytes, a type of white blood cells, have been identified as key factors in the development of hidden yet stable HIV reservoirs. To add to this research, blood samples from individuals undergoing HIV treatment have also been found to develop infected monocytes and macrophages in other parts of the body, such as the lungs.

This finding is crucial as a third of HIV-related deaths have also been found to be infected with tuberculosis. For example, about 80 per cent of people in Malawi who contracted tuberculosis are also infected with HIV.

Researchers hope that with the new research direction and its findings, they will be able to speed up the discovery of a cure for HIV.

Conclusion

HIV-related researchers have seen a huge shift in progress in the past few decades in being able to manage the infection adequately. Antiretroviral medications are able to boost the lifespan of individuals infected with HIV significantly. There have also been crucial advances, such as the development of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

While HIV has become a manageable infection, it still affects millions of individuals around the globe. In fact, the statistics of HIV infection in the world are disproportionate, with many communities having limited access to STD testing, prevention, and treatment. According to UNAIDS, as many as 38.4 million individuals are HIV-positive. Just in 2021, 1.5 million individuals have become newly infected. And in the same year, 650,000 HIV-positive individuals lost their lives.

Therefore, it is vital that you conduct regular STD tests, especially if you are sexually active. Here at Elyon Clinic, we want to ensure that you have a beneficial, healthy sex life. Through our comprehensive range of HIV and STD screening and testing, we are able to detect any issue early, treating them before it is too late. For more information, head over to https://elyonclinic.com.sg/ to inquire.