AEGiS-UPI: HIV uninfected may hold key to vaccine

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

HIV uninfected may hold key to vaccine

United Press International; Monday December 1, 1997 - 3:02 AM EST
Lidia Wasowicz, UPI Science Writer

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 1 (UPI) _ Noted AIDS researcher Dr. Jay Levy of the University of California, San Francisco, says people who withstand HIV despite repeated exposure may hold the key to developing a vaccine against the devastating disease.

In a study of 87 individuals at high risk of infection yet free of the AIDS virus, the scientists found half had a unique immunologic ability to prevent viral replication.

The announcement of the results will be made Monday to coincide with World AIDS Day.

Levy, UCSF professor of medicine and research associate in the UCSF Cancer Research Institute, says those hardy against repeated exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, may possess a natural ability to vaccinate themselves against the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, AIDS.

In the study, half of the 56 adults and 31 children could marshal CD8 lymphocytes, a specialized group of infection-fighting white blood cells, to stop the virus from duplicating itself.

Levy says, "These individuals may represent naturally immunized people. The induction of this CD8 antiviral suppression may be an important feature to elicit with a vaccine."

Levy reported the results at the inauguration of the UCSF AIDS Research Institute, which brings under a single umbrella all existing AIDS programs at UCSF, making it the largest AIDS initiative outside of the National Institutes of Health.

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