According to researchers, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may lose its ability to cause AIDS over time as more people take anti-retroviral drugs to keep the infection at bay.
2,000 HIV-infected women in Botswana and South Africa were part of the study. Researchers found that women in Botswana no longer benefited from the protective effect of a gene variant, HLA-B*57, which typically means people progress more slowly than usual to full-blown AIDS. However, they also found that the loss of this protection was not necessarily bad, because it was accompanied by a reduced ability for HIV to replicate, making the virus less powerful, or virulent.
2,000 HIV-infected women in Botswana and South Africa were part of the study. Researchers found that women in Botswana no longer benefited from the protective effect of a gene variant, HLA-B*57, which typically means people progress more slowly than usual to full-blown AIDS. However, they also found that the loss of this protection was not necessarily bad, because it was accompanied by a reduced ability for HIV to replicate, making the virus less powerful, or virulent.
While studying the impact of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) on the potency of HIV, the researchers concluded that 'selective treatment' of people with low immune cell counts will 'accelerate the evolution of HIV variants with a weaker ability to replicate'.
The study is published in the peer-reviewed US journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source: Medindia
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