Study provides insight into onset of AIDS
Contact: Katie Pakel, Columbus Children's Hospital: 614-722-4595
Embargo: Saturday, May 13, 8:15 am
A clinical study conducted by Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, suggests for the first time that in the advance stages of HIV, the virus can change its structure in an affected person to a form that can target CD8+ T cells , the primary protective cells in the human body. Children's researcher Kunal Saha, M.D., Ph.D., presented the findings at the 2000 Pediatric Academic Societies and American Academy of Pediatrics Joint Meeting Saturday, May 13.
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes or CD8+ T cells play an important role in protecting against HIV infection. These cells are primarily responsible for keeping HIV under control in infected persons, enabling them to lead healthy, disease-free lives for years. When these cells fail to protect against HIV, the infected person develops AIDS. Children's study provides a hypothesis for why CD8+ T cells eventually fail to protect against HIV.
"Our results show for the first time that HIV can mutate within the body to a form that can preferentially target the CD8+ T cells," said Dr. Saha. "Our data also demonstrates that the virus can use CD8 molecules as receptors to infect the cells. The results of the study may have significant implications on the current understanding of AIDS."
For the study, researchers used a newly described technique to generate T cell clones from HIV-infected patients at different stages of diseases including AIDS. Specifically, primate Herpesvirus was used to clone T cells from normal as well as HIV-infected individuals.
"The exact reason T cells succumb to HIV is unclear," added Dr. Saha. "The study suggests that these protective cells may eventually become targets of the virus, which can mutate within the body. These findings coupled with further study may enable researchers to understand this occurrence and design a better vaccine against HIV."
Children's Hospital of Columbus, Ohio, a 108-year-old institution devoted to the health of children, is among the top 10 free-standing children's hospitals in the country that receives NIH funding for research. Physicians and scientists at Children's are actively engaged in basic, applied, and patient-oriented research in a wide range of disciplines. In serving central Ohio and surrounding states, Children's Hospital has more than 400,000 patient visits a year, from birth through age 21. Children's offers specialty programs and services, including more than 18 support groups and 300 public education classes. As a tertiary teaching hospital affiliated with The Ohio State University, Children's also serves as the training ground for hundreds of pediatric healthcare providers each year.
More information on Children's Hospital of Columbus is available by calling (614) 722-KIDS (5437) or through the hospital's Web site at http://www.childrenscolumbus.org.
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