HIV vaccine for Japanese patients

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 04 Jan 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Doctors at the Research Hospital of Tokyo University's Institute of Medical Science have started clinical tests of an anti-HIV vaccine developed exclusively for the treatment of Japanese patients, the hospital said Saturday.

If the vaccine, designed to target a large number of Japanese people with genetically similar immune cells, can be put into practical use, it can lighten the financial and physical burdens of HIV carriers who have to take drugs to stave off full blown AIDS, hospital officials said.

HIV is unaffected by attacks from the immune system, which normally is capable of removing pathogens from the body.

Doctors at the hospital, led by Director Aikichi Iwamoto, mixed healthy immune cells taken from HIV carriers with HIV viral segments taken from the same carriers.

After letting immune cells learn the attributes of the virus they were to target, the immune cells were injected back into the bodies of the carriers.

The doctors then mapped out methods to encourage the immune cells to attack the virus.

They synthesized seven peptides, or protein fragments, contained by HIV, which immune cells can identify.

In the clinical test, the HIV carriers took three standard anti-viral drugs and were inoculated with the vaccine every two weeks a total of six times.

Over two years, the doctors will observe whether the vaccine can keep levels of the virus low enough to prevent development of AIDS, the officials said.

Currently, HIV carriers have to take three anti-viral drugs to lead a normal life.

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