A study published Tuesday in The Lancet suggests a second HIV patient has been cured. According to the authors, the so-called “London patient” underwent a successful stem cell transplant from donors with aHIV-resistantsubjected to gene. 12 years ago, a German man apparently defeated the disease. Now doctors in Britain believe they have finally repeated that success, this time in a 40-year-old Englishman.
The 40-year-old London patient, Adam Castillejo, revealed his identity to the New York Times on Tuesday. In a statement, he said he decided to go public a year after recovering from the virus. He thus hoped to “improve people’s understanding of science and HIV in general.” There was no active viral infection in his blood 30 months after stopping antiviral therapy. This indicates that he is now free from the symptoms of the disease.
The so-called “Berlin patient” was the first HIV patient reported by the media to have been cured of the virus three and a half years after similar treatment in 2011. The approach in this case included total body irradiation, two rounds of stem cell transplantation from donors with a resistant gene called CR5Δ32/Δ32, and chemotherapy.
Most infected people treat the virus with currently available antivirals and can live long lives. However, experimental research of this type may provide insight into whether a cure would be possible. The goal of stem cell transplantation in this case is to prevent the virus from replicating in the patient's body. The therapy replaces the immune cells with those from the donor. The body's radiation and chemotherapy targets everyoneremaining HIV virusesab.
Study results
The results of theStudyshowed that no active viral infection was present in patient blood samples after discontinuation of antiviral therapy after 30 months. They found no traces of the virus in his cerebrospinal fluid, intestinal tissue and lymphatic tissue. The patient had a healthy CD4 cell count, indicating that he recovered well from the transplant. In addition, 99 percent of the patient's immune cells came from the donor's stem cells, indicating that the stem cell transplant was successful.
