Monoclonal antibodies against HIV
A new method of treatment forms HIV antibodies in people for a long time
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Scientists have tested a new drug delivery technology and proved that it leads to the steady production of antibodies to HIV. The new method can be used in the treatment of other infectious diseases, American scientists said.
The treatment consists in the delivery of antibody genes using an adeno-associated virus as a carrier. Scientists presented the first results of a pilot phase of clinical trials testing the method in eight people with HIV. The steady production of antibodies persisted in some participants for more than a year.
Report by Casazza et al. Durable HIV-1 antibody production in humans after AAV8-mediated gene transfer was read at the annual conference on retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), the Drug-Delivery Technology press release Leads to Sustained HIV Antibody Production in NIH Study is published on the website of the American National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - VM.
Antibodies are protein compounds that help the immune system fight infection. Traditional vaccines encourage the immune system to generate protective antibodies. Another approach to infection prevention and treatment of certain diseases is the delivery of monoclonal antibodies – specific antibodies for binding to a single target. To avoid the need for constant injections of antibodies, the scientists decided to test the delivery capabilities of a specific gene.
As part of the experiments, the scientists used the delivery of genes of monoclonal antibodies called VRC07, which were previously isolated from human blood.
The participants were between the ages of 30 and 60. Each patient received a single injection of the drug by intramuscular injection. The scientists tested three different dosages. Throughout the experiment and to the present day, patients continue to take mandatory antiretroviral therapy to control HIV.
During the first 4-6 weeks after treatment, scientists recorded the first peak of an increase in the level of antibodies in the blood. Then they decreased slightly, but after 16 weeks they began to increase continuously. Five participants received low and medium dosages of the drug.
Three of them had higher levels of antibodies in their blood a year after the injection than in the first 4-6 weeks.
In those who received high dosages of the drug, the level of antibodies was higher compared to the rest. None of the participants had any serious side effects.
It is known that therapy based on monoclonal antibodies can provoke the immune system to produce antibodies against the treatment itself. Scientists have recorded that this happened in only three out of eight people, but it is not yet clear whether this can reduce the effectiveness of the method in neutralizing HIV.
While scientists continue to monitor the first group of volunteers. The recruitment of new participants for the current phase of clinical trials is open. "Potentially, the new method can be used for the prevention and treatment of a wide range of infectious diseases," the authors concluded. These assumptions will be studied in further stages of research.
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