Scientists were able to completely eradicate HIV in one-month-old macaques with antibody treatment, according to a study published in Nature Medicine and covered by Healthline.
The macaque infants were infected with a genetically engineered combination of HIV and its simian counterpart, SIV. The virus was detected in multiple tissues of the control group that did not receive antibody treatment, but the macaques that received treatment were rid of the virus within two weeks. Six months later, the virus remained undetectable in the young primates.
According to the World Health Organization, the rate transmission of HIV from a virus-positive mother to her child ranges from 15 to 45 percent. That rate can be reduced to 5 percent when interventions like antiretroviral treatments for mother and child are available.
While antiviral drugs must be taken daily to maintain efficacy, antibodies could potentially be engineered to only require injection once every six months, according to Nancy Haigwood, PhD, the director of the Oregon National Primate Research Center and a senior author of the study, who spoke to Healthline.
Dr. Haigwood also expressed her surprise at how fast the virus established itself in the tissues of the young monkeys. While it has been previously suggested that HIV can take several days to become active after exposure, Dr. Haigwood's team detected activity on day one.
"So to me the implications are that early intervention is extremely important because the virus is getting going much faster than we had assumed," Dr. Haigwood told Healthline. She went on to say the antibodies seemed to be worthy competition for the virus. They also spread through the body faster than she had expected.
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