HIV Remains in the Human Tissue Forever Even After Antiretroviral Therapy

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burrows in the deepest cell of human tissue, an area that the immune system is unable to notice.

This prevents the virus from being fully eliminated inside the body even after antiretroviral therapy.

However, new research discovered why this happens, attributing the lack of a particular protein as what prohibits the system's surveillance mechanism to fail.

This has shedded light on potential HIV treatment in biology and medicine, but further experimentations and studies are still required.

HIV Survival

(Photo : GUERCHOM NDEBO/AFP via Getty Images)

In the new research published in the journal PLOS Pathogens on March 24, scientists found that the immune system's cancer-killing T cells lack the so-called protein "CD73" as a fuel to track and kill the tissue cell infected with HIV.

T cells are known as a type of white blood cell responsible for detecting and destroying cells infected with pathogens or foreign pathogens called antigens, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

However, not all pathogens can be killed by killer cells due to their certain biological limitations on a cellular level.

After discovering that HIV remains in the tissue indefinitely, researchers from the University of Alberta, led by immunologist Shokrollah Elahi, determined the possible cause of the virus' retention in the human body-despite the progress of drugs in managing and treating the virus.

Also Read: Argentinian Woman with HIV 'Clears' Virus Without Treatment

CD73 and T Cells

CD73 is reportedly responsible for the mechanism of cell migration and cell movement.

With the lack of such protein, the T cells are unable to fully follow the hidden whereabouts of remnants of the virus even after the therapy.

This mechanism is one of the potential reasons why the virus stays in human tissues forever, according to Elahi, as cited by Science Daily.

Elahi and his team learned about the cellular-protein discrepancy from HIV patients.

The researcher reportedly said further research will be conducted on identifying ways to manipulate the protein, so the cancer-killing cells can access remaining cells infected with the virus.

HIV: Origins and Cases

HIV attacks the body's immune system, and it can be acquired from infected blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions.

Although scientific advancement has progressed against HIV, there is currently no known cure for it, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

If left untreated, HIV can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a more severe and life-threatening phase of HIV.

At this stage, the immune system is further weakened to resist infections and diseases.

The origins of HIV are believed to have come from a certain chimpanzee in Central Africa. It is likely a result of zoonotic transmission from the primate version of the virus called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), as per the CDC.

Hunters likely consumed infected blood when they sought the meat of chimpanzees during the late 1800s.

Since then, HIV has gradually spread from Africa to many parts of the world.

In the United States, the first known cases of the virus were reported in the 1970s.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in November 2021 stated that HIV continues to be a major global public health issue with a total death toll of 36.3 million people.

The CDC recorded almost 1.2 million people with HIV in the US by the end of 2019.