Stem Cell Transplant Cures HIV In 'Berlin Patient'
 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_796521.html

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/227991/thu...LANT-large.jpg
Advancing technology... Simply Amazing!

Very interesting!

Oddly enough, first thing that came to my mind was some American intellectual getting pissed because of the bush admin's ban on stem cell research and now the US is behind.

no way...

I'm going to wait and see..

if so.. that is amazing...

umbilical blood storage just became a viable option

i won't hold my breath unless it's replicable

RS meet @ bangkok when the HIV cure is replicable?

Except all the other nasty STIs and VD you can get, that AREN'T cured. :p

^ Yeah you don't want to get a "herpie" on your Lip (word to Jersey Shore)

I hope its true!

But I don't see how stem cells can cure a viral disease....maybe it just aids to prevent the symptoms..in any event :)

^ many of your white blood cells that compose of your immune system started out being a stem cell

How was his AIDS cured? Is the term "cured" defined by having a sufficient CD4 count rather than the body being free of the HIV virus itself?

Big step forward for science, things like this experiment (eg. using hematopoetic progenitor cells to make more T-cells) have been going on forever glad to see one of them worked out, now on to the rest of 33 million people in the world who live with HIV =)

He wasn't at the AIDS stage -- AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a patient state where the natural defense T-cells are below a certain number in the body, leaving the host weakened to everyday threats like the flu virus, cancer, bacteria etc etc.
HIV is the virus that causes this condition -- imagine that you are a collection of zillions and zillions of self-replicating bubbles called cells. On the surface of the cells are things called receptors, resembling key holes -- millions of different keyholes for different keys. Viruses are like keys, and when they enter the body and happen to "plug" into a keyhole that fits, trigger shitloads of things to happen. The HIV virus for example, plugs into the the body's defense T-cells, and tells it stop replicating itself, and instead make more HIV viruses ("keys") which in turn infect other T-cells etc.

Under normal circumstances, your body has units that move around and look for foreign dangers such as bacteria or viruses. Once found, these units attack the bacteria or viruses, and present fragments of them to T-cells, which then make other units to look for, and attack the specific bacteria or virus. Such T-cells are termed "activated" as they now have a target in the body.

The HIV virus however, preferentially attacks such "activated" T-cells, rendering the natural defense system weaker.

What this study found, is that by introducing cells that give rise to new T-cells (unactivated), by way of stem cells, these T-cells have effectively managed to rid the body of existing HIV viruses.

Actual PDF of journal here:
http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrar...0-09-309591v1#

Why did BNR32_Coupe walk into the airport sideway?

Bwahahahaha............

I love the avatar!

haha it's like the dude in hangover said "remember, what happens in vegas stays in vegas.....except herpes."

yes but if you have HIV and you cure it, you won't get AIDS. If this is what they found and they manage to replicate it, all it takes is getting regular HIV tested and curing it if positive, to prevent aids...

True! But it's actually more complicated than that.

1.) They had to find a "mutant" strain of stem cell that would give rise to T-cells that would be resistant to the HIV virus - this mutation happens in 1% of all caucasians, and 0% of asians/blacks.

2.) They had to use chemotherapy to kill ALL of the patient's original T-cells, meaning that their natural immune system was killed off to zero, or it would attack the new mutant "foreign" stem cell T-cell. Such procedures have 25-30% fatality rates.

3.) The stem cell replacement therapy is extremely expensive and time consuming, and thus would never be feasible for large populations....

Just the first 2 reasons alone make the statistical success rate (0.01 x 0.25) = 0.0025

an actual cure for "AIDS" seems unlikely, or in the least, inneffective treating the vast majority of the people with it

prevention like this is really the only way there will be until there is somthing that stops AIDS completely and rebuilds the immune system in one shot

50 million Africans arent going to be lining up for 3 time a week treatments, even when it's free