here - CD8 T cells - The Body

and the multiple molecular
mechanisms which maintain
HIV latency. HIV is not completely
eradicated from the
body by standard antiretroviral
therapy because some of it
lies resting in memory CD4+Tcells,
which can proliferate for
an average of 73.4 years in
the human body. However, if
you stop taking therapy, the
virus typically comes roaring
back within a matter of weeks.
One eradication approach
would be to remain on standard
ARV therapy to keep
the virus suppressed, while at
the same time purging these
latent reservoirs and blocking
them from infecting new
cells, so that they would have
nowhere to go and eventually
die off, ridding the body of
HIV. But it’s complicated—the
number of latently infected
cells may be much higher
than previously thought, by as
much as 50-fold, according to
Siliciano.
Sarah Palmer, PhD, Swedish
Institute for Communicable
Disease Control and Karolinska
Institute, gave a presentation
on measuring persistent HIV
infection, including an excellent
slide outlining some of the
advantages and disadvantages
of the four currently available
assays which measure persistence.
In concluding her talk,
Palmer emphasized that “looking
ahead, to determine the
effectiveness of curative strategies,
our field will need to
develop a more standardized
assay system which is sensitive,
efficient, less costly, and
adaptable in local settings.”
Other presentations
covered recent advances in
the development of accurate
animal models for
use in future cure
research, vaccine
and immune-based
therapies and the role
of immune activation
and inflammation in
viral persistence.
The conference
ended with a slightly
unorthodox, yet
immensely informative
and entertaining
presentation by Fred
Verdult of Amsterdam
on the psychosocial
benefits of a cure for
HIV. Verdult, after
finding out he had HIV
in 1998, started Volle
Maan, an organization
that conducts studies
and communication projects
on health and disease to
encourage people to live full
and worthwhile lives. Volle
conducted a survey of 458
individuals in the Netherlands
asking how important to them
a cure for HIV is, why a cure is
important, and which type of
cure is preferred.
The majority of the survey
respondents indicated they
were in good health, with
only 14% stating that their
health was poor. Seventy-two
percent said that it was very
important to them to be cured
of HIV, while another 22% said
it was somewhat important.
Yet when asked about how a
cure might look, participants
had varying responses. 95%
thought that a total cure
without any risk of future
transmission or infection very
desirable, while only 41% considered
it desirable to have a
cure that had no risk of future
transmission but carried a risk
ShARP TuRn: PA contributor Matt
Sharp talks about his experiences as a
cure research study participant.
of future infection. The survey
also asked about disadvantages
of living with HIV—the
risk of experiencing health
problems in the future was
the number one answer, while
psychosocial effects such as
stigma and the risk of infecting
someone else were also
highly ranked.
Deeks closed the twoday
workshop by declaring
Verdult’s presentation the
“highlight of the meeting,”
and remarking on the spirit
of collaboration among the
attendees. Barré-Sinoussi said
that next steps include the
efforts of the working groups,
including a newly added
social sciences research team
and an ethics working group,
as well as a call for more cure
research funding and collaboration.
The next IAS Towards
an HIV Cure workshop is
scheduled for immediately
prior to the 2013 international
conference in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Other news on
the cure front
A group of patients in France
who became infected with
HIV and then started on
antiretroviral therapy (ART)
early in the post-infection
period have shown no signs
of a resurgence of their Hiv
infection seven years after
being taken off therapy.
“These results suggest
that…antiretroviral treatment
should be started very early
after infection,” said Charline
Bacchus, lead researcher
of the study at the French
National Agency for Research
on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis
(ANRS).
The patients in the ANRS
EP47 VISCONTI cohort (known
as the Visconti Cohort) have
an extremely low reservoir of
HIV in their cells similar to that
of “HIV controller” patients.
HIV controllers are those who
are able to control their HIV
infection without the use of
ART for an extended period of
time, and represent about one
out of every 300 people who
have HIV.
In the study, 12 patients
started therapy within 10
weeks of infection, were on
therapy for an average of
three years, and were able to
control HIV after an average
of seven years off therapy.
At a press conference Asier
Saez-Cirión, one of the study
investigators, said they
were interested in finding
out whether HIV controller
status could be induced. He
estimated that 5–15% of those
treated early could eventually
control HIV off therapy. But
don’t stop those HIV meds
POSiTivElyAwARE.COM SEPTEMBER+OCTOBER 2012 35