Vitamin D Helps with Resistance to HIV
9 years ago
When it comes to the poorest nations of the world, an inexpensive means of fighting the spread of HIV is vital. Researchers may have found just such an ally according to a recent study of how vitamin D affects the immune system response to HIV. What did they find?
The Test Subjects
The study was performed using 100 young individuals, half from the Cape area in Africa and the other half from the Xhosa indigenous tribe. Blood samples were taken from the healthy individuals during the sunny summer months when vitamin D levels are the highest and again during the winter when they are at a seasonal low due to less sun exposure. During the winter, both groups proved to be vitamin D deficient, and the women who were in the study suffered even more from the deficiency than men.
Exposure to HIV-1
Next, these blood samples were exposed to HIV-1. After giving the virus nine days to work, the samples were tested. The amazing result was that the vitamin D deficient winter samples were more prone to infection than the summer samples with normal vitamin D levels.
The deficient individuals were next given a six-week supply of vitamin D supplements to get their levels back to normal. Then their blood was taken and tested again. Infection rate was reduced back to what it had been for the summer samples. The results were clear – vitamin D was helping ward off the disease.
Implications
While there is no immunization for HIV, this study reveals that vitamin D can reduce the chances of infection. Since vitamin supplements are far less expensive than vaccinations, this is also a far more viable solution for reducing the risk of infection in developing countries. Also, additional health benefits associated with vitamin D would be achieved by combating deficiency. It’s a win-win for some of the underdeveloped countries that are the hardest hit by the spread of HIV.
HIV Vaccine? Antibodies from Pregnant, HIV Positive Mothers
9 years ago
Not every child of HIV positive mothers ends up with the disease. The reasons for this have been hotly debated since it is hoped that the mechanism could be duplicated as some form of HIV vaccine. At first, a certain antibody response was considered a possible way that the disease was held at bay. While this was later discounted as being incorrect, new data has researchers once again believing that this antibody response is, in fact, the answer they have been searching for all along.
Each year, about a quarter of a million babies are born with HIV, having been infected during pregnancy by HIV positive mothers. This number, however, is only a small fraction of the babies born to HIV positive mothers during a year. The fact that something prevents most babies from infection certainly caught the attention of researchers who are always on the lookout for an HIV vaccine that can prevent infection.
The Notable Antibody Response
When infants are not infected with HIV due to transmission, the common variable seems to be what is referred to as a V3 neutralizing antibody (due to the fact that it responds to the V3 loop on the HIV envelope). This antibody had been written off by researchers in the past because it does seem to be a strong enough response to prevent transmission. In fact, it has proved ineffective in certain lab tests. So why does it prevent transmission from mother to child?
Additional Factors for HIV Positive Mothers
It is believed one of the factors that makes this immune response more effective in warding off transmission from mother to child lies in the effectiveness of the mother’s antibodies because they can neutralize HIV infection. Obviously, testing will now continue to determine if experimental vaccines can be boosted by this V3 neutralizing antibody. While every child is not kept safe from transmission by this antibody response, researchers hope to use this as a jumping point, something they can use one day to increase the effectiveness of an HIV vaccine someday.
Lack of HIV Prevention Threatens to Increase
9 years ago
by ADMIN
in HIV Management
UNAIDS has released a report showing that the next five years are critical in slowing the spread of HIV. Now that major advances in treatment have been made, HIV prevention seems to be less of a topic. The stark fact is that treatment alone will not stop the spread of HIV. To halt the continuing spread of this condition, prevention efforts need to be revamped, especially when it comes to high-risk groups.
Treatment Costs on the Rise
One of the amazing things about modern HIV treatment is that most people who are infected with the disease can expect to live to the average lifespan. This fact, however, also makes prevention a necessity. With HIV positive individuals living longer and the infection rate growing in many countries, costs of providing treatment are skyrocketing for governments around the world. In fact, in several African nations it has been calculated that more than one-third of government spending on health must target HIV, and that this translates into as much as 2% of the gross domestic product of some nations.
A Reachable yet Difficult Goal
UNAIDS sees the next five years as an opportunity to strike a major blow against HIV. With the funds to provide treatment globally and greater prevention encouragement for at-risk individuals, the organization is seeking to eliminate transmission from mother to child by 2030. The difficulty is encouraging the haves to share with the have-nots since many of the nations facing such crises simply do not have the funds to enact the needed programs.
First World Problem: Complacency
HIV prevention is not just an issue in Africa. In advanced nations such as in Europe and North America, evidence reveals that among homosexual men, infection rates have started to rise. This negative shift is blamed on complacency due to treatment methods and their accessibility in these nations. Rather than on treatment, the focus needs to be on prevention if infection rates in countries such as the US are going to decrease as they should.
Risk of HIV Decreases with More Secondary Education
9 years ago
A study was performed in Botswana that revealed just one year more of secondary education produced a drastic reduction in the risk of contracting HIV. In a part of the world where approximately 1 in 4 will contract HIV over the course of a decade following school, reducing the percentage to 17 would mean thousands of fewer cases of HIV.
Also interesting to note is the fact that decreased risk of HIV infection was more significant in young women than men. It has been speculated that the reason behind these findings is that the additional year of education during this crucial stage in adolescence keeps students from participating in the same amount of risky behavior they would be taking part in if school were already over. For women especially, education seems to have a major impact, and may be a cost effective way to reduce HIV infection across Africa, where may nations currently do not provide the same educational opportunities for young girls as they do for boys.
What are the implications of this study for a nation plagued by HIV such as Botswana where a 2013 study revealed that 22 percent of individuals in the 15 to 49 age group were infected? The fact is that providing an extra year of schooling to secondary school students for free is far less of a financial burden on the nation than trying to provide treatment after infection.
The 8 percent difference in risk represents a significant improvement for both the health and the economy of the nation. HIV infection is not the only aspect of health that is improved as nations provide more education. Other concerns, such as child mortality, are also positively affected when a nation places a great emphasis on school and learning.
In short, when it comes to risk of HIV infection, education matters. Indeed, no matter where in the world you live, education plays a vital role for children to remain healthy, especially in parts of the world where education has life and death consequences.
New Potential Route to a Cure for HIV/AIDS
9 years ago
by ADMIN
in HIV Management
So much of the early research in finding a cure for HIV pointed towards the virus’s ability to lie dormant in the immune system of a host’s body, and scientists started believing a cure for the virus was impossible. Many decided, with this idea, to only focus their research on stopping the replication process of the virus cells and maintaining a healthy state of those infected. Some, though, still try novel ways to eliminate this difficult virus, as it can stay undetectable for years and suddenly resurface and eradicate the infected person’s immune system. In fact, one group of researchers has made some wonderful discoveries about which cells in the body the virus hides, once again paving a potential route to a cure for HIV. Most have concluded that the cells HIV usually hides in are our CD4 cells – also known as helper T cells – and since these are integral for our immune system to do its job, there was little we could do to eliminate the virus from those cells and the body as a whole. Surprisingly, this group of researchers has found another type of cell in which the virus may hide, one that is much more vulnerable to medical treatment and manipulation.
The research was lead by the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, in Emory University, as it involved monkeys that were infected by Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), which is essentially a sister virus to HIV that affects primates. Researchers examined these primates before and after infection, and in some they removed the helper T cells that many believe is the main focus for HIV’s attack. When they were removed, the virus cells attacked immune system cells called macrophages, which naturally have a much shorter lifespan than helper T cells. This is significant because the three-day lifespan of the macrophages is much less than an average helper T cell, meaning it would be difficult for the HIV cells to lie dormant for their required few weeks (minimum) to continue their replication process. This possible route to a cure for HIV means that we can now think of different methods to eradicate HIV, and no longer be bound to only the antiretroviral medications currently used to keep it at bay.
