A man (64) from Oslo has been in HIV remission for five years after a stem cell transplant from his brother, who carried a rare genetic mutation. According to scientists this may be only the tenth documented case of a complete cure of this deadly infection.
A patient diagnosed with HIV in 2006 underwent a transplant for bone marrow cancer. His brother had the CCR5Δ32/Δ32 mutation, which removes the receptor that the virus uses to attack cells. After the procedure, the patient’s immune cells were gradually replaced by donor cells.
Two years after the transplant, doctors stopped antiretroviral treatment. Subsequent analyzes of blood and gut samples did not show the presence of HIV DNA. A detailed analysis of more than 65 million immune system cells did not reveal a virus capable of reproduction or a specific immune response to HIV.
“Replication-competent virus and HIV-specific T-lymphocytes were absent, and the antibody response to HIV gradually declined. The absence of HIV-specific T-lymphocytes supports the hypothesis that this condition is associated with long-term remission.” the authors stated.
However, experts point out that this is a very rare situation. “A sibling has about a 25 percent chance of being a suitable donor, and the incidence of the CCR5Δ32/Δ32 mutation is about one percent in Northern Europe,” explained Anders Eivind Myhre.
“He feels like he’s won the lottery twice… He’s been cured of bone marrow disease, which can be fatal, and most likely HIV,” added another author of the study, Marius Trøseid. The researchers emphasize that transplantation is not a commonly used method of HIV treatment, but similar cases may help to better understand the mechanisms of long-term remission.
