The Human Immunodeficiency Virus has long been an issue. Likewise, the search for its cure has long been ongoing. Recent studies now suggest that natural human antibodies are capable of fighting off HIV. Moreover, it can also help suppress the viral rebound of the virus for patients that have stopped taking antiretroviral drugs.
As Nature World News notes, the study focuses on an antibody called 3BNC117. It works by injecting the neutralizing antibody to HIV patients. By doing so, the viral load is kept from increasing for more than a month. As mentioned earlier, the suppressing has proven to work even without antiretroviral therapy.
The antibody is completely natural and are untouched and unmodified. "They are completely natural products and should not have major side effects," says Dr. Michel Nussenzweig. Nussenszweig is from the Rockefeller University in New York and is a corresponding author in the study.
The study used a small set of individuals, only 12 HIV-positive patients. All agreed to discontinue their daily doses of antiretroviral therapy and substituted it for an injection of 3BNC117. Currently, the only popular "cure" for HIV is antiretroviral medication. What this really does, however, is to just suppress the virus while the patient is on the medication. Once without it, only 18 days are needed for the virus to bounce back.
Fortunately, none of these 12 individuals suffered any viral symptoms after being injected by the antibody, as confirmed by LA Times. Those who partook of the trial experienced no acute retroviral syndromes. That is, powerful resurgence of the virus, which would make it hard to once again regain control of the same. These results were continuous for at least 5 weeks after the first procedure. Six of those that partook in the trial even went on 9 weeks without their viral loads increasing. And once the viral loads were rebounding, the patients were returned to their traditional antiretroviral treatments.
These antibodies make up a part of Dr. Nussenzweig's strategy of "kick and kill." That is, to kick the virus out of its hiding place and then kill it.
