Antibody Treatment Cures HIV-Infected Monkeys

"Fascinating." "A complete first." "Striking." "Too amazing to be real." Science Magazine reports those are some of the reactions researchers are having to a provocative, baffling monkey study suggesting that a monoclonal antibody used to treat inflammatory bowel disease in humans might lead to a "functional" cure of an infection with the AIDS virus.A team led by immunologist Aftab Ansari of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta infected eight monkeys with SIV, the simian version of HIV. The monkeys were treated with antiretroviral drugs--or ARVs--and then infused with a particular antibody. More than 9 months after the ARVs and antibody treatments were stopped, all eight animals had low or undetectable levels of SIV in their blood.