2) The bone marrow donor had the extremely rare delta 32 mutation (which provides resistance to HIV)
Bone marrow donors are in high demand. The delta 32 mutation is extremely rare.
Assuming there were not limitations on delta 32 bone marrow donors, it is not ethically sound to intentionally induce leukemia and/or perform transplants when there are already tested treatment methods (Antiretroviral drugs/tenofovir) that make HIV a manageable disease.
you dont need to induce leukemia right? leukemia was the reason why the person needed a bone marrow transplant, but as far as I know it doesnt help in 'curing' HIV.
I believe the point was that HIV alone does not motivate a bone marrow transplant. There are people with more urgent need for transplants and not enough donations to serve that need.
It goes without saying that it's unethical to motivate a bone marrow transplant for a person with HIV by giving them leukemia. I assume then that it was said either as a joke or just for the sake of completeness.
HIV is notable for its ability to create "hidden reservoirs". Some recent cure attempts have been aimed at intentionally "kicking" the hidden reservoirs in order to flush them out. For this reason I mentioned inducing leukemia as it would replicate the circumstances of the Berlin Patient.
For additional follow up, there have been additional bone marrow transplant attempts in somewhat similar circumstances with bone marrow that did not contain the mutation.
Yes. Though an allogeneic (from another person) bone marrow transplant is a high risk procedure. Some will say up to a 30% treatment related mortality.
You can cure Sickle cell disease as well with a transplant. Generally it isn't done because the risks are not worth curing a disease which has good treatment options (in HIV) or is generally a disease which can be symptomatically controlled in most patients.
1% of people have the mutation[1]. 25 million people are registered to donate bone marrow internationally[2].
That statistically represents 250,000 total cures available worldwide for the 36.7 million HIV sufferers[3]. Not taking into account the other ailments bone marrow transfers cure.
Well no shit. The point is to find the cause for curing him, not to convince others to approve of intentionally inducing leukemia in HIV patients to get them on the bone marrow transplant list.
The hope is that it's possible to determine _what_ cured him so it could be possibly synthesized or extracted by other means that would not place additional strain on any transplant lists..
Wrong, there are two people who have been cured of HIV. This Berlin patient and Magic Johnson.
Edit - Apparently some people on this site have a very poor sense of humor and apparently take themselves very seriously, as indicated by the down-votes.
28 comments
[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 19.0 ms ] thread1) The patient had leukemia and HIV
2) The bone marrow donor had the extremely rare delta 32 mutation (which provides resistance to HIV)
Bone marrow donors are in high demand. The delta 32 mutation is extremely rare.
Assuming there were not limitations on delta 32 bone marrow donors, it is not ethically sound to intentionally induce leukemia and/or perform transplants when there are already tested treatment methods (Antiretroviral drugs/tenofovir) that make HIV a manageable disease.
It goes without saying that it's unethical to motivate a bone marrow transplant for a person with HIV by giving them leukemia. I assume then that it was said either as a joke or just for the sake of completeness.
For additional follow up, there have been additional bone marrow transplant attempts in somewhat similar circumstances with bone marrow that did not contain the mutation.
Further reading:
Hidden reservoirs: https://www.nature.com/news/hidden-hiv-reservoirs-exposed-by...
The "Boston Patients": https://www.nature.com/news/hopes-of-hiv-cure-in-boston-pati...
You can cure Sickle cell disease as well with a transplant. Generally it isn't done because the risks are not worth curing a disease which has good treatment options (in HIV) or is generally a disease which can be symptomatically controlled in most patients.
well, shucks. there goes my startup idea. :\",
What is your definition of "extremely rare"?
(http://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news13)
That statistically represents 250,000 total cures available worldwide for the 36.7 million HIV sufferers[3]. Not taking into account the other ailments bone marrow transfers cure.
[1] http://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news13
[2] https://bethematch.org/news/news-releases/international-marr...
[3] https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/data-and-trends/glob...
"CCR5 Δ32 has an (heterozygote) allele frequency of 10% in Europe, and a homozygote frequency of 1%."
No okay to force it, but I see no reason why patients can't opt into (being made well aware of the risks, that is).
The hope is that it's possible to determine _what_ cured him so it could be possibly synthesized or extracted by other means that would not place additional strain on any transplant lists..
Edit - Apparently some people on this site have a very poor sense of humor and apparently take themselves very seriously, as indicated by the down-votes.
Magic Johnson is not cured. He still takes medication and has an undetectable viral load.
http://www.thebody.com/content/76192/magic-johnson-wants-you...