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The virus [human immunodeficiency virus] that causes AIDS [acquired
immune deficiency syndrome] can hide in the bone marrow, avoiding
drugs and later awakening to cause illness, according to new research
that could point the way toward better treatments for the disease.
Finding that hide-out is a 1st step, but years of research lie ahead.
Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan and her colleagues
report in this week's edition of the journal Nature Medicine (see [3]
below) that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can infect
long-lived bone marrow cells that eventually convert into blood
cells. The virus is dormant in the bone marrow cells, she said, but
when those progenitor cells develop into blood cells, it can be
reactivated and cause renewed infection. The virus kills the new
blood cells and then moves on to infect other cells, she said. "If
we're ever going to be able to find a way to get rid of the cells,
the 1st step is to understand where a latent infection can continue,"
Collins said.
In recent years, drugs have reduced AIDS deaths sharply, but patients
need to keep taking the medicines for life or the infection comes
back, she said. That's an indication that while the drugs battle the
active virus, some of the disease remains hidden away to flare up
once the therapy is stopped. One hide-out was found earlier in blood
cells called macrophages. Another pool was discovered in memory
T-cells, and research began on attacking those. But those couldn't
account for all the HIV virus still circulating, Collins said,
showing there were more locations to check out and leading her to
study the blood cell progenitors.
Finding these sources of infection is important because eliminating
them would allow AIDS patients to stop taking drugs after their
infection was over. That's critical in countries where the treatment
is hard to afford and deliver. "I don't know how many people realize
that although the drugs have reduced mortality we still have a long
way to go," Collins said in a telephone interview. "That is mainly
because we can't stop the drugs, people have to take it for a
lifetime."
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health,
Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, University of Michigan, Rackham
Predoctoral Fellowship, National Science Foundation and a Bernard
Maas Fellowship.
more here :
</pre>
immune deficiency syndrome] can hide in the bone marrow, avoiding
drugs and later awakening to cause illness, according to new research
that could point the way toward better treatments for the disease.
Finding that hide-out is a 1st step, but years of research lie ahead.
Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan and her colleagues
report in this week's edition of the journal Nature Medicine (see [3]
below) that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can infect
long-lived bone marrow cells that eventually convert into blood
cells. The virus is dormant in the bone marrow cells, she said, but
when those progenitor cells develop into blood cells, it can be
reactivated and cause renewed infection. The virus kills the new
blood cells and then moves on to infect other cells, she said. "If
we're ever going to be able to find a way to get rid of the cells,
the 1st step is to understand where a latent infection can continue,"
Collins said.
In recent years, drugs have reduced AIDS deaths sharply, but patients
need to keep taking the medicines for life or the infection comes
back, she said. That's an indication that while the drugs battle the
active virus, some of the disease remains hidden away to flare up
once the therapy is stopped. One hide-out was found earlier in blood
cells called macrophages. Another pool was discovered in memory
T-cells, and research began on attacking those. But those couldn't
account for all the HIV virus still circulating, Collins said,
showing there were more locations to check out and leading her to
study the blood cell progenitors.
Finding these sources of infection is important because eliminating
them would allow AIDS patients to stop taking drugs after their
infection was over. That's critical in countries where the treatment
is hard to afford and deliver. "I don't know how many people realize
that although the drugs have reduced mortality we still have a long
way to go," Collins said in a telephone interview. "That is mainly
because we can't stop the drugs, people have to take it for a
lifetime."
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health,
Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, University of Michigan, Rackham
Predoctoral Fellowship, National Science Foundation and a Bernard
Maas Fellowship.
more here :
</pre>