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March 8, 2010

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How HIV Hides Out treatment

HIV Hides Out in Bone Marrow Cells

The virus that causes AIDS can hide in the bone marrow, avoiding drugs and later awakening to cause illness, according to new research that could point the way toward better treatments for the disease.

Finding that hide-out is a first step, but years of research lie ahead.

Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan and her colleagues report in this week’s edition of the journal Nature Medicine that the HIV virus can infect long-lived bone marrow cells that eventually convert into blood cells.

The virus is dormant in the bone marrow cells, she said, but when those progenitor cells develop into blood cells, it can be reactivated and cause renewed infection. The virus kills the new blood cells and then moves on to infect other cells, said.

“If we’re ever going to be able to find a way to get rid of the cells, the first step is to understand” where a latent infection can continue, Collins said.

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12 Comments Post a comment
  1. Mar 15 2010

    Jangan jangan virusnya mempunyai kemampuan nalar seperti manusia seperti film2 fiction gitu. Ngeri amat neh virus hiv. Makin sulit kayaknya buat menghilangkannya.

    Reply
  2. Mar 15 2010

    Sedihnya tingkat penyebaran virus hiv di indonesia makin mencengangkan, apa jadinya kalau sepuluh tahun kedepan. So scary, who knows some of our friends, families, were infected.

    Reply

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