British men may be the first to be cured of HIV through new therapies

A man living in the UK may become the first person in the world to be cured of HIV through a new therapy developed by scientists from many British universities. The 44-year-old, unidentified man is one of 50 people currently being tested for new therapies that can attack the HIV virus during the incubation period. Currently, the team says they no longer detect the HIV virus in the blood of this man.

Mark Samuels, director of clinical research at NIHR National Institute of Health Research, said: "We are exploring real possibilities for HIV treatment. This is a great challenge, all still. is in the early stages but this new transformation is remarkable ". Testing was conducted by researchers from Oxford University, Cambridge, Imperial College London, College London and King's College London.

HIV is a virus that is difficult to destroy because it attacks the immune system, injecting itself into the DNA of T-cells or T-lymphocytes with the CD4 receptor that acts as a coordinator of the immune system. As a result, white blood cells cannot kill HIV, HIV uses the genetic material of white blood cells to multiply and leukocytes later destroyed by HIV. Current HIV therapies, called anti-retroviral (Art), focus on this process to prolong the patient's life as well as limit the spread of the virus, but Art's therapy cannot detect the T cells have been infected with HIV in an inactive state.

HIV is a very difficult virus to destroy.

New therapy by the group of researchers works in two phases. First, a vaccine helps the patient's body identify HIV-infected cells for classification. Next, a new drug called Vorinostat will activate inactive T cells so that the immune system can detect.

The unnamed man was revealed to be a public servant in London and he was excited about the result when he said: "My blood test results in the last few weeks show no longer. I participated in this pilot program to help others as well as myself.This will be a great achievement if, after years to come, people find something that can cure this disease. And the fact that I'm part of it is really great. "

Professor Sarah Fidler from Imperial College London said: " This therapy is specifically designed to remove all HIV viruses from the body , including those that have been infected on inactive cells. We have studied in the laboratory and there is evidence that it will work on the human body, but we must emphasize that it will take more time to turn it into a real therapy. We will continue testing for the next 5 years and at the present time, they do not propose to stop using Art therapies but depending on the results of future testing, we will be able to exploit these therapies. ".