Nature Medicine Publishes Findings from Columbus Children's Hospital Revealing Major Breakthrough in AIDS Research Study Shows for the First Time that HIV Can Mutate to Attack Human Protective Cells
COLUMBUS, OHIO, January 22, 2001-A study conducted by Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, suggests for the first time that in the advance stages of HIV, the virus can change its structure in an affected person to a form that can target the primary protective cells in the human body-CD8+ T cells. Thus, leading to the rapid progression of AIDS. In an article published in the January 2001 issue of Nature Medicine, Children's researcher Kunal Saha, M.D., Ph.D., explained that the findings suggest it may be possible to prevent the progression of AIDS through appropriate therapeutic interventions aimed at preventing direct infection of CD8 +T cells with HIV.
"If HIV mutates in infected patients to attack CD8+ T cells, which eventually leads to the development of AIDS, then preventing this from occurring in infected patients may keep them healthy," explained Dr. Saha. "Thus, there is great potential for our findings to be useful in the treatment of AIDS."
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes or CD8+ T cells play an important role in protecting against HIV infection. These cells are primarily responsible for keeping HIV under control in infected persons, enabling them to lead healthy, disease-free lives for years. When these cells fail to protect against HIV, the infected person develops AIDS.
For the study, researchers used a newly described technique to generate T cell clones from HIV-infected patients at different stages of diseases including AIDS. Specifically, primate Herpes virus was used to clone T cells from normal as well as HIV-infected individuals.
"The exact reason T cells succumb to HIV is unclear," added Dr. Saha. "Our study suggests for the first time that these protective cells may eventually become targets of the virus, which can mutate within the body. These findings, coupled with further study, may enable researchers to understand this occurrence and design a better therapeutic vaccine against AIDS."
Children's Hospital of Columbus, Ohio, a 108-year-old institution devoted to the health of children, is among the top 10 free-standing children's hospitals in the country that receives NIH funding for research. Physicians and scientists at Children's are actively engaged in basic, applied, and patient-oriented research in a wide range of disciplines. In serving central Ohio and surrounding states, Children's Hospital has more than 400,000 patient visits a year, from birth through age 21. Children's offers specialty programs and services, including more than 18 support groups and 300 public education classes. As a tertiary teaching hospital affiliated with The Ohio State University, Children's also serves as the training ground for hundreds of pediatric healthcare providers each year. More information on Children's Hospital of Columbus is available by calling (614) 722-KIDS (5437) or through the hospital's Web site at http://www.childrenscolumbus.org.
# # #
RSS