Early Antibody Therapy Has "Taught" The Macaques' Immune System To Fight HIV

A new approach to the HIV therapy on the monkey model (SHIV) proposed recently in the Nature journal by a group of microbiologists from the U. S. and Germany.

Michele Nussentswijg from the Rockefeller University in New York (USA), said, the use of two novel antibodies, while treating SHIV in macaques, stimulates a robust immune response and allows the body to control the infection. The mechanism how antibodies work resembles the principle of cancer immunotherapy, which involves already existing processes in the body.

Researchers also suggest that a delicate balance may exist between preservation of helper CD4+ T-cells, the size and stability of the virus reservoir, and the continuous production of sufficient quantities of antigen to generate a potent and sustained CD8+ T-cell response.

Although rhesus macaque infections with SHIV differ from HIV-1 infections in several important ways, immunotherapy should be examined as a way of controlling the systemic virus dissemination and of mobilising a robust immune response that may be capable of controlling the infection in humans.

Authors suggest that such a technique should be applicable for using in humans.