{French scientists on Tuesday unveiled the genetic mechanism by which they believe two men were spontaneously cured of HIV, and said the discovery may offer a new strategy in the fight against AIDS.}<\/p>\n
In both asymptomatic men, the AIDS-causing virus was inactivated due to an altered HIV gene coding integrated into human cells, they wrote in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection.<\/p>\n
This, in turn, was likely due to stimulation of an enzyme that may in future be targeted for drug treatment to induce the same response, they said.<\/p>\n
“This finding represents an avenue for a cure,” study co-author Didier Raoult of the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) told AFP.<\/p>\n
Neither of the men, one diagnosed HIV positive 30 years ago and the other in 2011, have ever been ill, and the AIDS-causing virus cannot be detected with routine tests of their blood.<\/p>\n
In both, the virus was unable to replicate due to DNA coding changes that the researchers proposed were the result of a spontaneous evolution between humans and the virus that is called “endogenisation”.<\/p>\n
“We propose that HIV cure may occur through HIV endogenisation in humans,” they wrote. “We believe that the persistence of HIV DNA can lead to cure, and protection, from HIV.”<\/p>\n
The approach hitherto has been the opposite: to try and clear all traces of HIV from human cells.<\/p>\n
The teams said they did not believe the two patients were unique or that the phenomenon was new.<\/p>\n
France 24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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