Research Provides a Double-Helical Twist to AIDS Resistance

In what could lead to a breakthrough in AIDS treatment, Duke University scientists have discovered how variations in genes affect the immune system of HIV infected people during the early stages of infection. They are trying to understand why few people are better able to handle the virus than others.

The current study has come up with an answer to one of the biggest puzzles about AIDS. Scientists for long have been trying to determine the reason for different people handling the AIDS virus differently. Scientists have now narrowed down the possibilities to variations occurring in three specific genes.

This is the first time the genome-scanning technology is being used for infectious disease. AIDS patients usually show varying responses to their infection, with some falling ill quickly and others live better off for decades though with the infection.

The study is a result of seven years of research at the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI). CHAVI is a consortium of scientists from Duke, Harvard, Oxford, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and University of Alabama-Birmingham. The objective of the study is to understand the role of genetics in early responses of the body to the virus. It is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Scientists have been simultaneously working on many projects related to AIDS vaccine. In the current study, patients whose genes displayed polymorphism in key immune system cells showed much better ability to control immediate post-infection proliferation of the virus.

By the end of the study, scientists had studied the genes of 486 patients and investigated the genes of 486 patients and examined the presence of 550,000 gene variants commonly found in the human population. After analyzing the data gathered to establish a relationship between the genetic differences and different ability to control the virus, they managed to isolate three genes that displayed polymorphism.

Two of the genes identified were HLA-A and HLA-B. The AIDS virus is able to mute these genes on entering the human body. The end result is the inability of the body to recognize the virus as a foreign body. The third gene under the scanner is ZNRD1. Scientists feel this gene may be able to replicate in the same way as the virus.

Patients involved in the study came from Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Denmark. The analysis was conducted at Duke University and the University Lausanne, Switzerland.

The latest observations might transcend the study of HIV and will probably yield insights into the mechanism resulting in sickness and help in the effective treatment and prevention of diseases.