Detection of cows capable of combating HIV

US scientists found that the immune system of cows can quickly produce anti-HIV antibodies.

Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in the US have found that cows are resistant to HIV because the animal's strong immune system quickly creates special antibodies to disable the virus. This may be an important finding to develop a vaccine to prevent HIV in humans in the near, Independent. The results of the study are published in the July 20 issue of Nature.

About 10% to 20% of people infected with HIV develop their own broad-spectrum antibodies (bNAbs) . But they only started creating them about 2 years after getting sick, at that time the HIV virus changed.

The immune system of cattle is resistant to HIV virus.(Photo: Independent).

"A small number of people living with HIV create bNAbs, but only after a period of significant infection. Then the HIV virus in their body has evolved to counteract this protection system," Dennis Burton, author The main study, said.

Scientists found that cows injected with HIV protein developed an immune response for several weeks. Four cows when tested quickly produced bNAbs after 35 to 50 days.

"From the very first days of the HIV / AIDS epidemic, we have found that the HIV virus is very good at avoiding the immune system. Therefore, the special immune systems that produce antibodies disable the HIV virus that receive the term great interest, whether they are on people or cattle, " said Anthony Fauc, director of the US National Institutes of Health.

According to Fauc, the strong reactions in this study are remarkable because cattle produce bNAbs in a relatively short time. Unlike human antibodies, animal antibodies are more likely to carry unique characteristics than the complex antigens of HIV vius.

In the future, researchers hope to mimic strong cow's antibodies or modify them to develop vaccines and HIV treatment.