Submitted by tonymmorley t3_za6yyq in Futurology
tonymmorley OP t1_iykivcv wrote
Vaccine prompts HIV antibodies in 97 per cent of people in small study — "An experimental HIV vaccine led to antibodies against the virus in 35 out of 36 volunteers, but whether this offers protection against the infection is unclear" 💊
>"A two-dose HIV vaccine generated antibodies against the virus in 35 out of 36 people (97 per cent), with no severe side effects."
"The early-stage trial was designed to demonstrate safety and a proof-of-concept for a relatively novel approach to HIV vaccination. It is unclear whether the vaccine protects against HIV. Based on the antibody levels generated by the two-dose regimen, booster doses are expected to be required."
The good news is that innovations in HIV/AIDS, early intervention, and treatment are helping drive down the prevalence of new infections and deaths while improving the quality of life for millions. Deaths from HIV/AIDs peaked in 2004 at 1.8 million people globally; by 2019, that number has fallen by 52%, to roughly 863,000, and continues to decline slowly. Dive into the full data on the Our World in Data page on HIV/AIDS.
While it's still early days for the development of an effective, inexpensive, and safe vaccine to prevent the spread or decrease the virulence of HIV/AIDS, continued progress and incremental innovation is a promising cause for continued optimism in our global fight against the disease.
Source:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Journal reference:
tonymmorley OP t1_iykjvvq wrote
Oh a paywall eh? Jump it here: https://archive.ph/WfYQo
Lee_yw t1_iylq7kb wrote
Interesting. For those are curious on why the antibodies might not be effective, can read this:
Having the antibodies against HIV doesn't equal having immunity against HIV due to the structures of the HIV.
HIV infected patient usually produces antibodies against the virus however the antibodies produced by the immune system aren’t effective against HIV. Protein spikes on HIV’s surface are too few and far between for antibodies to adequately latch on to.
Antibodies are tiny Y-shaped protein chains that are produced by the B cells and that latch on to protein receptors studding viruses and bacteria. Not only do these antibodies have the ability to neutralize the invader or flag it for elimination by cells of the immune system, but they also help prevent the virus or bacteria from latching on to healthy cells in the body.
Antibodies are Y-shaped for a reason, molecular biologists suggest: It allows each arm of the Y to bind with more than one protein spike on the surface of a disease-causing microorganism. By binding with two arms, rather than one, a single antibody is all the more powerful.
One of the hallmarks of HIV disease—and a major obstacle to vaccine research—is that HIV antibodies don’t work very well in controlling the virus. Past research suggested that HIV’s receptor spikes are coated with a thick sugary substance that antibodies cannot penetrate. The Y-shaped antibodies don’t have the reach necessary to cover receptors that are spread out across HIV’s surface. In turn, the virus escapes being neutralized and is able to go on and infect CD4 cells in the body.
HIV typically has only about 15 receptor spikes on its surface, and that these are spread too far apart to be targeted by a single Y-shaped antibody. They compared HIV to a similarly sized flu virus, which typically has 450 receptor spikes within much closer proximity to each other hence increasing the effectiveness of the antibodies against flu viruses.
The second reason is the the greatest challenge in developing an effective HIV vaccine has been the high rate of mutation and recombination during viral replication . The enormous genetic diversity of HIV is mainly driven by the high rate of variability of the viral envelope (Env) glycoprotein, which ironically happens to be the main target of neutralizing antibodies . The HIV genome contains nine genes which encode 16 proteins including the major structural proteins Gag, Pol, and Env; accessory proteins Nef, Vif, Vpu, and Vpr; and regulatory proteins Tat and Rev. HIV diversity, which is mainly generated by the error prone viral reverse transcriptase, has various implications for disease progression and responses to ART . The high mutation rates of approximately 1–10 mutations per genome per replication cycle, extensive conformational adaptability, and massive glycan shielding of the Env enable the virus to evade the effects of neutralizing antibodies and other immune responses
Edit: links
18boro t1_iym827h wrote
Another reason antibodies are Y-shaped is they can then be attached to two pathogens at the same time, thus clumping them together and inhibiting their movement/drift.
ndhockey97 t1_iym0i7x wrote
Thank you for this. Great explanation
Fair_Dig_6687 t1_iym10n0 wrote
I also think the vaccine is still in the early stages of testing and more research is needed to determine its effectiveness in a larger population.
[deleted] t1_iymcfle wrote
[removed]
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments