(LifeScript Health News) A bone-marrow transplant seems to have cured a man of AIDS, according a Wall Street Journal report. The 42-year-old American, living in Berlin, is recovering from his leukemia therapy, but he appears to have won his battle with AIDS, almost 2 years after his bone-marrow transplant.
He received the transplant from a donor who had a naturally occurring genetic mutation (CCR5 delta 32) that forms an immunity to almost all strains of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. (This mutation is found in about 1% of Europeans, and even higher in northern Europe, who receive the mutation from both parents.)
The transplant patient is “functionally cured,” but scientists are continuing to study the potential ramifications: Blocking CCR5 might have side effects, and the transplant treatments themselves kill up to 30% of patients. The case may prove helpful, though, to those who are researching gene therapy and testing different approaches to treating AIDS.
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