AIDS gene therapy

The biotech company Sangamo BioSciences, based in California, USA, announced the beginning of the first phase of clinical trials of the method of gene therapy for HIV infection, writes Reuters. The drug under the working name SB-728-T blocks the work of the gene encoding the membrane receptor, the CCR5 protein, to which the human immunodeficiency virus attaches to penetrate the cell. The first stage of the tests will involve 12 AIDS patients.

The effect of the new drug is based on the fact that people with a CCR5 gene mutation (in Europe, their number does not exceed 3% of the total number of inhabitants) resist the effects of the virus better. T-lymphocytes isolated from the body of patients will be exposed to the drug in vitro, and then will be placed back into the body, after which the mutated cells will multiply and create reliable protection against the virus. "We expect that patients' T-lymphocytes will acquire permanent immunity to HIV," explains Dr. Carl June from the University of Pennsylvania, who will participate in the study.

In November last year, doctors from the Berlin Medical complex "Charité" (Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin), Germany, observed a similar therapeutic effect when transplanting bone marrow to a patient who was diagnosed with two fatal diseases at once – AIDS and leukemia. In order to replace the destroyed bone marrow cells, doctors picked up a donor with a CCR5 gene mutation. The results of the operation stunned the surgeons: the patient was not only cured of leukemia, but also showed a negative result when tested for HIV.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru according to the materials "Around the World"03.02.2009