HIV-2 key to treatment

The less common strain of HIV may yield secrets for stopping the development of Aids, Swedish researchers have reported.

Their results, from a 20 year study, show that HIV-2 slows the effect of the most common strain of the virus HIV-1.

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers report on how double infection with HIV-1 and HIV-2 has proved to be less devastating than infection with the single HIV-1 virus.

This was linked to a raised number of the infectious system cells, CD4+ T cells, they report.

The findings come from a study of 4,700 people in Guinea-Bissau.

Researcher Dr Hans Norrgren, of Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, Sweden, said: “Our results suggest that HIV-2 can activate cellular reactions which naturally check the development of AIDS.

"If we can map these, I think we can also uncover entirely new mechanisms that are key to the slower development of the disease. In the long run, this could lead to better preventive measures and treatments."

Inhibition of HIV-1 Disease Progression by Contemporaneous HIV-2 Infection. Joakim Esbjörnsson, Fredrik Månsson, Anders Kvist, Marianne Jansson, Eva Maria Fenyö, Hans Norrgren and Patrik Medstrand. New England Journal of Medicine July 19 2012, 367; 224-232