Subject: Man apparently cured from AIDS
Posted by: malarson
Date: Nov 19 08
I saw an interesting article this past weekend. A man, who suffered from AIDS for 10 years (not HIV), was diagnosed with leukemia. He receieved a bone marrow transplant and now 20 months after the said transplant, there is no trace of AIDS in his system. The doctors involved admit that his AIDS could resurge later on, but I don't think I've ever heard of AIDS disappearing only to reappear later on. Thoughts?
Posted by: malarson
Date: Nov 19 08
I saw an interesting article this past weekend. A man, who suffered from AIDS for 10 years (not HIV), was diagnosed with leukemia. He receieved a bone marrow transplant and now 20 months after the said transplant, there is no trace of AIDS in his system. The doctors involved admit that his AIDS could resurge later on, but I don't think I've ever heard of AIDS disappearing only to reappear later on. Thoughts?
21 replies. On page 1 of 2 pages. 1 2
dj168
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A miracle or something he did. Who knows, maybe he cured it on accident. Reply #1. Nov 20 08, 11:01 PM |
malarson 
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What they're thinking is that the bone marrow donor was one of the 1 in a 1000 people that are naturally immune to the HIV virus. So when he received that bone marrow, all of the blood cells the marrow made were immune to it as well. Reply #2. Nov 21 08, 8:29 AM |
danjou
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The problem is how to find out who the 1 in 1000 are, and then there are only a fraction that would donate. Reply #3. Nov 26 08, 2:01 PM |
satguru
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They should be able to isolate the gene fairly easily, and hopefully sooner or later will use stem cells to generate unlimited bone marrow and not need human donors. No reason why not. Reply #4. Nov 26 08, 7:23 PM |
mjws1968
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They have already shown that the CCR5 gene has a mutation called delta 32, this particular mutation is dispersed evenly amongst the population of Northern (i.e. germanic descended) Europe. A person with one copy of the mutation historically had a delayed reaction to the Black Death, they often still died of it, but not as fast. People with two copies of the delta 32 mutation had virtual immunity to the Black Death it was reckoned. Where this gets interesting and relevant is that the mutation has exactly the same effect on HIV/AIDS, which beggars the question on whether the two diseases are related. The individual who had lukemia and was "cured" had the homozygote double version of this delta 32 mutations, which goes a long way towards explaining the "cure". Reply #5. Nov 26 08, 8:54 PM |
| mjws1968
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Sorry, should have read the bone marrow transplant came from someone who had the double delta 32 mutation, which makes it even more likely that this was the source of his cure, it has something to do with the blocking of protein receptors for those of you with a science background. Reply #6. Nov 26 08, 8:58 PM |
hippo22
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something here is very promising Reply #7. Feb 06 09, 7:24 PM |
Rowena8482
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there have been documented cases of people who were immune to the HIV, the ones I read about were in Africa - Women who worked as prostitutes but didn't become infected with HIV. Maybe his donor was someone who also had whatever it is that makes them immune, and has passed the immunity on to him via the transplant. It would be a major development in the fight against AIDS if it were found to be so, and the immunity could be detected/isolated somehow. Reply #8. Feb 08 09, 5:39 PM |
RAMcG
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I most say this is great news to hear. But we need to be able to isolate that gene so we could be able to cure most people and eventually stop AIDS/HIV completely. Reply #9. Feb 10 09, 7:32 AM |
Ardicrocks
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That's really clever, i wounder what made it go away. There was a girl who had a tranplant and then her blood group changed suddley. I suppose the human body can do things like that. Reply #10. Jul 08 09, 5:54 AM |
| mjws1968
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There is work being done on the Delta 32 gene by cancer research laboratories as well as other organisations, but any major breakthrough is a while off yet unfortunately. Reply #11. Jul 09 09, 12:35 PM |
blazerfan004
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Lucky guy, that's all I've got to say :) Reply #12. Aug 01 09, 1:02 AM |
Anton
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How come nobody has posted anything along the lines of proof? Not even one link. Reply #13. Aug 01 09, 2:22 AM |
| mjws1968
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Heres a good article from Science daily of 5 years ago, there has been much more discovered since, and its a little short on specifics for my tastes, but no big medical words to confuse a layman like myself lol. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050325234239.htm and the wiki page referring to Eyam, the village in Derbyshire used in a genetic study, better than your average wiki page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyam and if you want to get technical, this work from Bonn University in Germany is the best I can find. http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102244282.html Reply #14. Aug 01 09, 11:04 AM |
| lifeoriley
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All l can say is that this is truly a step in the right direction. Reply #15. Aug 01 09, 11:35 AM |
| Anton
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Yep, a step in the right direction indeed. Also, that Wiki page was a good read for me. Reply #16. Aug 01 09, 12:33 PM |
| mjws1968
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It is also interesting that they reckon the immunity originally had to be against a virus rather than a bacterium because of the nature of the receptors delta 32 blocks, which means that whatever decimated Europe in the middle ages cannot have been pure Bubonic Plague, which is a bacterium of course, but may well either have been a viral haemorrhagic fever, or a combination of that with Yersina pestis, which would have devastated a medically primitive mediaeval society. In Eyam, where two thirds of the population perished, 14 percent of the current population have the mutation, which is statistically far higher than the european average of one percent, it cannot be a coincidence. Reply #17. Aug 01 09, 8:16 PM |
Amanda77586
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A cure for a virus? That would be a historical first. Somehow I am skeptical. Reply #18. Aug 07 09, 2:46 PM |
| mjws1968
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The use of detectable genetic mutations to provide immunity to viruses is not exactly science fiction, the technology is there, the knowledge almost there, if the delta 32 mutation can stop or at least slow down the progress of HIV then the transfusion of blood or bone marrow from someone with the mutation to someone with the disease will have those effects, and that has already happened at least once. Reply #19. Aug 09 09, 8:04 AM |
| blazerfan004
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If they found one, I would feel safe. Reply #20. Oct 03 09, 11:04 PM |
21 replies. On page 1 of 2 pages. 1 2
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