HIV cure breakthrough? Norwegian man declared virus-free after transplant

A Norwegian man has effectively been declared HIV-free after receiving a stem cell transplant from his brother, marking a major breakthrough in medical science.

According to doctors, the cure occurred because the patient’s elder brother carried a rare, virus- blocking genetic mutation. Resultantly, the 63-year-0ld Oslo patient has become one of only 10 people globally to achieve long-term HIV remission following the transplant.

The high-risk procedure was initially intended to treat the patient’s bone marrow cancer. Typically, these “cures” require a donor with a rare mutation of the CCR5 gene, which effectively “locks the door” against HIV.

This mutation is exceptionally rare, found in only about 1 percent of Northern Europeans.

As a result of transplant, the donor’s cells gradually replaced the patient’s immune cells in the bone marrow, blood, and gut tissues. After the two years of transplant during the sample evaluation, doctors found no signs of HIV DNA integration in the host DNA.

Even after two years, the patient also stopped consuming anti-retroviral drugs designed to reduce the level of HIV in the body.

Since 2006, the Norwegian man has been living with HIV. In 2017, he was diagnosed with fatal blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome.

While expressing his joy, the patient said, “it was like winning the lottery twice.”

“Replication-competent virus and HIV-specific T cell responses were absent, and HIV antibody responses showed a gradual decline,” researchers wrote in a study published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

“The absence of HIV-specific T cell responses in our data supports the hypothesis that such an absence correlates with sustained HIV remission,” they added.

The case study offers a new insight into how HIV can be cured. As per this model study, if one receives donor cells containing specific HIV-resistant mutation, it is highly possible that the recipient will experience a HIV reduction and complete cure from the virus.

As per researchers, although such a method does not seem practical for most people, this method will help to predict long-term remission.