Third patient of HIV cured with Stem Cell transplant

• A 53-year-old man from Germany, referred to as the Dusseldorf patient, has become at least the third person to have been “cured of HIV” with the virus not being detectable in his body even four years after stopping the medicine.
  • Referred to as the Berlin patient, Timothy Ray Brown became the first person to overcome HIV after he underwent two stem cell transplants in 2007 and 2008 for treating his blood cancer.
• This was achieved with a bone-marrow transplant from people carrying a specific HIV-resistant genetic mutation called CCR5-delta 32 genetic mutation.
• A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that infuses healthy blood-forming stem cells into body to replace bone marrow that’s not producing enough healthy blood cells.
  • Bone marrow transplants may use cells from your own body (autologous transplant) or from a donor (allogeneic transplant).

Process

• HIV mainly attacks CD4 immune cells (type of white blood cell) in human body, thereby reducing a person’s ability to fight off secondary infections.
• CCR5 receptors on surface of CD4 immune cells act as a doorway for HIV virus.
• However, CCR5-delta 32 mutation prevents these receptors used by HIV virus from forming on the surface, effectively removing the doorway.

About Stem cells

• Stem cells are special human cells that are able to develop into many different cell types.
• Stem cells provide new cells and replaces specialized cells that are damaged or lost. Based on the cell type/tissue of origin, stem cells are classified as
  • Somatic Stem Cells (also known as adult stem cells) and
  • Embryonic Stem Cells.