Medical expert of the article
New publications
Radioactive radiation will help in the treatment of HIV
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Scientists have developed a completely new method of treating HIV-infected people with the help of radioactive radiation, which can become a real breakthrough for medicine.
Current supportive therapy for HIV patients only lowers the level of the virus in the blood to a minimum that is safe for life, but does not completely destroy it. To completely destroy infected cells in the human body, scientists decided in practice to apply radioimmunotherapy, which was originally developed for the treatment of cancerous tumors. Experts do not doubt that the creation of a drug that is directed directly against a specific type of protein (namely Sprouty-2, which is responsible for reducing the functions of immune cells in HIV ), will also help restore the function of T-lymphocytes - one of the important elements of human immunity.
At the 99th Assembly of the Radiological Society held, experts from the United States proposed radiation as a possible method of destroying cells that are infected with the immunodeficiency virus. The results of research in this field were also presented there.
The authors of the studies are employees of the Bronx Medical University. A. Einstein. Researchers decided to use radioimmunotherapy in the fight against HIV infection, in conjunction with the currently used method of highly active antiretroviral therapy. Initially, this therapy was created for the treatment of cancer, it is based on laboratory-created monoclonal antibodies associated with a certain isotope. The molecular structures obtained in this way are destructively affecting exclusively the atypical cancer cells, destroying them with radioactive radiation, without affecting the healthy ones.
To adapt the therapy to HIV-infected people, scientists took a bismuth-213 radioisotope and combined it with a monoclonal antibody specifically designed against one of the proteins that are on the surface of cells infected with the immunodeficiency virus. Antibodies created in this way, experts tested on blood samples, which were taken from 15 HIV-infected patients who received antiretroviral treatment. As a result, scientists found that a significant number of infected cells died, while at the same time, healthy cells were left without any damage. In addition, specialists conducted an additional test on a special model of the central nervous system, created for laboratory studies. Antibodies with the isotope passed without problems through the artificial brain barrier, absolutely not damaging it, and the barrier for many drugs remains insurmountable. After ingestion, the antibody successfully killed the virus-infected nerve cells without affecting the healthy. In the future plans of American specialists, carrying out clinical tests of the isotope with the participation of volunteers who are infected with HIV to prove the effectiveness of the developed technique.
It is possible that this method of treatment in the future will become one of the main methods of therapy for HIV infection and help to cope even with complex forms of the disease.
[