Scientists have discovered a method of “disarmament” of the HIV, which affects the immune system and believe that their discovery opens the way to creating an effective vaccine against AIDS.
American and European researchers conducting laboratory tests on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found that the virus loses its ability to affect the immune system if experts would succeed to remove cholesterol from the virus membrane.
It’s like an army that has lost weapons but still has flags. Another army can recognize it and attack it”, said Adriano Boasso of Imperial College London, who led the study.
Scientists already analyzed some possibilities to use this inactivation of HIV to develop an effective vaccine against AIDS.
Usually when a person is infected with HIV, the immune system of the body immediately triggers a defensive reaction. Some researchers believe that HIV forces the innate immune system to have an exaggerated reaction. This weakens the next line of defense of the immune system, known as “adaptive immune response”.
For the study, published Monday in the medical journal Blood, British scientists removed cholesterol from the membrane surrounding the virus and found that this prevents the HIV virus to trigger innate immune response. In contrast, a stronger adaptive immune response is achieved, orchestrated by a certain type of immune cells – lymphocytes T.
HIV can spread through sexual contact, syringes shared by drug users, breast milk and blood. However, HIV is able to mutate rapidly and can hide from the immune system attacking then the cells sent by the body to destroy it.
HIV is creating its membrane from the infected cells. This membrane contains cholesterol, which helps the membrane to stay fluid and able to interact with certain types of cells.
Normally, certain immune cells – plasmacitoid dendritic cells (pDCs) – quickly recognize HIV and react by producing molecular signals called interferons. These signals activate various processes that are useful at first, but eventually destroy the immune system if it remains activated for too long.
If the removal of cholesterol from the membrane of HIV is successful, HIV can’t activate the pDCc cells. Therefore, T-lymphocytes, which orchestrate adaptive immune response, can more effectively fight the virus.
AIDS kills about 1.8 million people worldwide each year. Approximately 2.6 million people were infected with HIV in 2009 and 33.3 million people are living with the virus.
The list of the largest producers of drugs against HIV include prestigious companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb Gilead, Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.