- An HIV patient in Oslo has achieved five years of remission following a stem cell transplant, marking the tenth reported case of a person being cured of the disease.
- The 64-year-old man received the transplant from his brother to treat bone marrow cancer, with the brother possessing a rare CCR5Δ32/Δ32 mutation resistant to HIV.
- This mutation removes the receptor proteins that HIV uses to infect cells, and the donor's resistant cells gradually replaced the patient's immune cells across various tissues.
- Comprehensive analysis two years post-transplant showed no HIV DNA integrated into the host DNA, no virus capable of multiplying, and a decline in HIV antibody levels.
- While this type of cure is rare due to the low probability of a matching donor with the specific mutation, researchers believe studying such cases can help identify signs to predict long-term remission.
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