8/13/2019 Health Center Monitoring Sheet
3/3
A first: Stem cell therapy cures HIV patient in Germany
Stem cell therapy might provide a remedy for acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) after it was used on an HIV
patient in
Germany, the first person known to have been cured of the
disease, a Department of Health (DOH) official said Tuesday.Dr.
Gerald Belimac, program manager of the DOH National AIDS/Sexually
Transmitted Infection Prevention and Control Program, said
American Timothy R. Brown, the so-called Berlin Patient who had
been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, was cured
after getting stem cells in 2007 from a donor who was
genetically resistant to the virus that caused AIDS.
However, he said that this procedure was very complex and was
still under study.
It takes the right person, the right recipient, the right donor,
for a stem cell transplantation particularly on HIV to be
successful, Belimac
said.
If it comes from other donors, there is really a high chance
that the recipient would reject it, she added.
Brown was infected with HIV in 1995 and was later diagnosed with
leukemia, or cancer of the blood.
He underwent a transplant of stem cells for the leukemia and it
turnedout that those stem cells had genes that were resistant to
HIV,
Belimac said.
Medical research has shown that almost 5 percent of Caucasians
are genetically resistant to HIV, he said, but there are still no
studies
showing Filipinos having similar genes.
Belimac explained that the donor was HIV-resistant because his
CD4 cells, a type of white blood cells that are attacked first by
the HIVvirus, did not have the CCR-5 coreceptor needed for the
virus to infect the cells.
Flushing out immune system
So the virus could not get into the CD4 cell due to the absence
of that coreceptor (Browns) entire immune system was flushed
out
to remove the leukemic or cancer cells and was replaced by new
stem cells (from the HIV-resistant donor), Belimac said.
These stem cells that happened to be HIV resistant became his
new immune system. So, for the past three and a half years, it is
said
that he has been cured of HIV, he added.
Belimac said flushing out ones immune system could be dangerous
because of complica tions.
Its treated with various chemicals. Its exposed to radiation to
kill actually the current immune system so that it could be
replaced. So,
there is a danger that the patient will actually develop
fulminant infection because you have to kill the immune system to
replace it with
a new one, he added.
Belimac said stem cell therapy was one of the treatments medical
researchers were studying to find a cure for AIDS/HIV.
3 future directions
The future of HIV is clear. At least now, there are three future
directions. Number one is the continuing pursuit of better ARV
(antiretroviral) drugs. Second is in the field of vaccines.
There are many promising researches in vaccine. And the third is
really the
stem cell, he said.
Belimac said the probability was small that a Filipino with HIV
could successfully get a stem cell transplant from an
HIV-resistant
Caucasian.
If you want to get a transplant, you need a donor who shares
similar characteristics (with you). Meaning, if you want a donor,
youd
want a donor who is a close relative and, if not a relative, at
least a Filipino, he said.
If not Filipino, at least Asian. (But) the (HIV-resistant) genes
are actually among Caucasians. So we dont say (that theres) a
high
probability that an Asian can actually receive, or accept, or
tolerate a Caucasian donor.
