Study suggests immune system treatment for HIV

6 February 2011
Tweet
Share

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) has reported that a study was published today in the journal “Cell,” which found that mice with an HIV-like infection can be cured by boosting their immune systems.

Scientists studied IL-7, a naturally occurring hormone of the mice’s immune system, and found that boosting levels of the hormone allowed the mice’s immune system to gradually overcome the virus.

Scientists said, “Despite tremendous efforts, long-lived immune responses for some of these viruses are ineffective, because the body is so overrun by virus that the immune system just give up trying to battle the infection. Some people have coined the phrase ‘immune exhaustion’ to explain the phenomenon. Our approach is to discover some of the mechanisms that cause this immune exhaustion, and manipulate host genes to see if we can boost the natural immune response in order to beat infection.”

The treatment may also be effective on hepatitis B and C.