A method has been found to keep immune system from damages by HIV virus and it would be the new discovery for a vaccine against AIDS, scientists said.
The research shown unveiled that if cholesterol is removed from the HIV virus’s membrane, the virus is unable to be harmful for the immune system, reported the researchers from United States and Europe working in laboratories on the HIV.
Adriano Boasso of Imperial College London, the study team leader, said that “It’s like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognize it and attack it” .
In the next time, the researchers hope this method possibly developed into a vaccine to treat HIV virus.
In fact, the immune system of newly HIV-infected patient response an immediate defense known as the adaptive immune response which is believed to overreact caused by HIV virus.
In this study – published on Monday in the journal Blood – that removing cholesterol from the membrane around the virus would stop HIV from triggering the innate immune response. This in turn led to a stronger adaptive response, orchestrated by a type of immune cells called T cells.
Currently known HIV drugs are Gilead Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. Up to now, there are still limited successes in inventing a HIV against vaccine. It is a really hard matter for scientists from companies, non-profits and governments around the world.
“HIV is very sneaky,” claimed Boasso. “It evades the host’s defenses by causing overblown responses that harm the immune system. It’s like revving your car in first gear for too long — eventually the engine blows out.
Therefore, it has been proved that it is so complicated to grow a vaccine.”Most vaccines prime the adaptive response to recognize the invader, but it’s actually hard for this to work if the virus triggers other mechanisms that damage the adaptive response.”
The study shows that HIV takes its membrane from the cell that it infects. This membrane consists of cholesterol, which allows keep it fluid and enables it to interact with certain types of cell.
Normally, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), a subset of immune cells recognizes HIV quickly and reacts by producing signaling substances called interferons. These signals activate various processes which are initially helpful, but which damage the immune system if switched on for too long.
According to the Boasso’s team, if cholesterol is removed from HIV’s envelope, it will inactivate pDCs. As a result, T cells, which set up the adaptive response, can fight the virus more effectively as working with scientists Johns Hopkins University, the University of Milan and Innsbruck University,