Using the AIDS virus to help children battling a deadly immune disorder

Our immune system is equipped with the best armor, enabling us to battle the invasions of harmful viruses and bacteria. This set of armor is referred to as T-cells, especially CD8+T cells which are able to fight different diseases such as virus and even cancers. Some of the CD8-T cells contain special instruction to wreak havoc upon infected cells with HIV viruses and kill them. However, there is a specific reason why most of the time these cells cannot come to the expectations, and work as assigned. As a result, the virus seems to spread all through the body, drawing patients to the threshold of deaths.

Every year, there is a growing number of mortality at an average of 35 million around the world caused by the HIV virus that causes AIDS. This is something which is very dreading for every one of us. However, scientists at the Karolinska Institute found a reason behind why CD8-T cells cannot perform well to kill these viruses for the first time, raising some hopes to put an end to its spread. The ignition keys of the immune systems when fail to reach the start position, they cannot restrict the attack of HIV viruses to the body. Bringing the ignition keys under control could help us reverse the ill-effects of HIV viruses. In addition, using the virus of HIV, it is aimed at combating a fatal immune system disorder too. This is how researchers at UC San Francisco and St. JudeChildren Research Hospital are hoping to bring about a therapy in the clinical setting to help children avoid the dangers of combined immunodeficiency or most commonly known as a bubble baby disease.

The approach of these research studies is promising as they aim at preventing sufferings and complications related to these two types of diseases.

The second approach targeting to lessen the severities of SCID is hopeful for many parents as their babies fail to survive more than two years after their births. A weak immune system is to blame for their condition since even a common cold could be a reason for their deaths.

How The Therapy Works

The bone marrow derived blood stem cells from the patients are collected at first. Later, the mutated gene factors responsible for SCID in children are fixed using manipulation techniques.  In order to make space in the patients’ bone marrow, they are likely to receive a low degree of chemotherapy followed by a transplantation of corrected stem cells back to their bone marrow. As a result, these modified and corrected genes create a new blood system as well as an immune system in the infants’ bodies.

Is There Any Fear Of HIV Infection?

The transplantation of HIV virus in the body of SCID infected children does not cause any infection of HIV AIDS since it uses an inactivated form of HIV so as to avoid the infected genes into the patients’ cells.

Since we all know that HIV viruses have a unique ability to infiltrate cells or gain access to the cells arbitrarily, inactivated cells do not possess the same features and interfere with the cells. Therefore, it reduces any risks of causing HIV AIDS to the receivers.

As per the researchers, the participated children with SCID have been cured using stem cell-gene therapy combinations. They are hopeful that if the duo works safe and effective on patients in the real clinical settings, it is a big relief for the patients with SCID. At the same time, the successful approach of this gene therapy is eyeing to eradicate the requirements of donors- matched and unmatched as well as other associated side-effects.