bio innovation
INDIAN RESEARCHER PART OF NIH TEAM TO DEVELOP ONE SHOT ANTIBODY COCKTAIL TO STOP HIV INFECTION
Dr Rajeev Gautam based at reputed US National Institute of Health is part of a team that has done breakthrough research to find out an innovative yet short term alternative to delay the actions of human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV )
BY RAHUL KOUL
While it might appear to be a short lived delay mechanism but it matters for those who are sitting at the far end of their life . A new study has shown that a single injection of antibodies that target HIV can protect monkeys from contracting the virus for nearly six months . This finding could prove to be a basis of a short term vaccine that could prevent the onslaught of the virus in humans .
Exposed to simian HIV ( SHIV ) once a week , non-treated monkeys contracted the virus after just three weeks on average , the researchers said , whereas the trial monkeys remained virus-free for up to 23 weeks . In human
populations at high risk of contracting the AIDS-causing virus , such protection , even temporary , " could have a profound impact on virus transmission ," the team of German and US-based researchers that included Dr Rajeev Gautam reported in the reputed journal Nature .
These findings suggest an alternate to HIV vaccine as one shot may prevent HIV infection for 6 months or more in high risk populations .
The single injection of four anti-HIV1 monoclonal antibodies offers great protection . This study mimics a real life situation where people contracts HIV from infected person by sexual encounter . Dr Rajeev Gautam who is a
The antibodies were found to protect the macaques from becoming infected for 12 to 14 weeks on an average . Some animals were even protected for as long as 23 weeks . For monkeys without the antibody , it took an average of three weeks to become infected with HIV .
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BioVoiceNews | June 2016