Doctors in the United Kingdom believe they have cured the 2nd person ever of HIV. Timothy Brown was the first person to be cured occurred 12 years ago in Germany. 40 year old Adam Castillejo was “cured” of HIV as of recent. However doctors claim this “cure” is a long term remission. Mainly because to say a cure has been fully developed is a large claim to make for a disease that impacts millions and it known as “incurable.” There is no guarantee that the remission will persist but doctors have confidence because there is similarities to Brown’s recovery. It is still a milestone nonetheless.
How did they do it?
A commonality between Brown and Castillejo is the both has cancer. The HIV was “cured” through a bone marrow transplant done to treat the cancer. The Bone Marrow donor had a mutation in the CCR5 protein. HIV uses the CCR5 protein to enter into immune cells however the mutation in the CCR5 protein prevents HIV to latching on. Castillejo’s transplant was in May 2016 and he has been off the anti-HIV drugs since September 2017. Him and Brown are the only patients to stay HIV free a year after stopping the drugs.
Is this a cure? Or a commonality?
The two cures had cancer and a bone marrow transplant and were males in common to lead to that result. This is not representative of the living population with HIV which includes men, women, children and the elderly as well as those with varying health and mental conditions. It is presumptuous to claim there is a cure when HIV has only been cured in two males of roughly the same age. However, science is taking large steps to determining a cure for HIV. The commonality has allowed for a new approach to be discovered to provide a widespread cure for HIV. Based off of these findings, China is attempting to use CRISPR a gene editing technology to treated a person with HIV. CRISPR would engineer HIV resistant blood stem cells from normal donors, to make this cure more accessible. They were able to edit 17.8% of the donor’s stem cells. The target cell for mutation is the CCR5 protein to either rid of it or mutate it. Yet through trials the edited stem cells only compromised 5-8% of the recipients total cell’s. This would still help cure cancer but the HIV is still present.
The cure of HIV was an indirect consequence of the cancer treatment. This demonstrates the interconnectedness of diseases and disease treatment. The connection is opening doors for medical treatments and cures for diseases that seemed incurable. It brings light to a new way of medical research and disease study that allows doctors and researchers to use what they know to treat and cure diseases they originally thought they couldn’t.
Current Treatment and Prevention to New Beginnings
HIV treatment is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). The components of ART include taking a combination of HIV medicines everyday. It does not cure HIV but it helps people with HIV live longer and healthier lives and reduces the risk of HIV. There is no vaccine are approved for use outside of clinical trials. Scientists and doctors are working on a vaccine but nothing is in the market yet. The realm of HIV treatment is evolving. The two men who have been cured are giving hope to the millions living with HIV today. Sometimes hope is the best medicine you can give someone. Hope gives a person mental strength and peace to combat any battles they are in. Researchers and doctors are giving people hope and that is sometimes the biggest treatment of them all.
The Good, The Bad, The Microbiome 