HIV’s struggle to evade human immune systems and powerful drugs is weakening its virulence, researchers reported last night.
Human defences, natural and artificial, against the virus mean its rapid evolution has slowed its ability to destroy a victim’s immune system and cause AIDS, according to a global group of scientists centred on Oxford University, UK.
The findings come from a study in Botswana where the virus has evolved extensively to outmanoeuvre a human gene for the protein HLA-B*57.
Scientists found that the people infected with HIV can no longer benefit from having the anti-HIV gene – but that HIV itself has lost some of its ability to replicate.
The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on World Aids Day.
The evidence of the impact of drug treatments – antiretroviral therapy – is theoretical and based on mathematical models.
The study involved scientists from South Africa, Canada, Tokyo, Harvard University and Microsoft Research.
Researcher Professor Phillip Goulder, from Oxford University, said: said "This research highlights the fact that HIV adaptation to the most effective immune responses we can make against it comes at a significant cost to its ability to replicate.
"Anything we can do to increase the pressure on HIV in this way may allow scientists to reduce the destructive power of HIV over time."
* The World Health Organisation issued new guidance on the use of antiretroviral treatments yesterday.
The guidance sets out who should be receiving the drugs, seeking to include people exposed to HIV as preventative treatment.
It says these are likely to include health workers, sex workers and victims of rape.
Payne RP. Impact of HLA-driven HIV Adaptation On Virulence In Populations Of High HIV Seroprevalence. PNAS 1 December 2014
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