-
.
- Ελληνικά
A few days after French virologist Luc Montagnier passed away at the age of 89, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his contribution to the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, news of treatments for the virus demonstrates the significant strides the scientific community has made in recent decades.
Another major achievement has been recorded: the third person cured of HIV. The cure represents a major breakthrough. A new transplantation method involving umbilical cord blood was used.
Cord blood is more readily available than undifferentiated cells commonly used in bone marrow transplants. At the same time, cord blood does not need to be completely compatible with that of the recipient. Most donors on the registry are Caucasian, but because the donated blood does not have to be a perfect match for the recipient, it opens up the possibility of treatment for dozens of Americans suffering from HIV along with cancer.
The American woman, who was cured of HIV and also suffered from leukemia, received cord blood to cure cancer. The blood came from a partially matched donor, and the practice of finding a bone marrow donor, a process in which a donor of similar nationality to the patient is sought, was not followed.
The cured woman received blood from a close relative to provide her body with a temporary immune defence while the transplant was taking place. She is close to old age and was diagnosed with HIV in 2013 and leukemia in 2017. In August of that year, she received cord blood from a donor with a mutation that prevents HIV from entering cells. The woman was also given compatible hematopoietic stem cells from a first-degree relative.
As scientists see it, the fact that gender and ethnicity no longer play a binding role in HIV treatment is a crucial step in the expansion of sophisticated treatments against the virus.
It is estimated, at the same time, that HIV infection works differently in men and women, and among HIV carriers, women make up more than half of all cases worldwide. However, they participate at a rate of only 11% in treatment trials.
The two other cases of HIV carriers who were cured were the "Berlin patient", Timothy Ray Brown, who managed to live without the virus for 12 years but ended up with cancer in 2020, and the other patient was Adam Castillejo, the "London patient", following a bone marrow transplant to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Source: Proto Thema
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
