Using Naturally-Occurring Antibodies to Treat HIV

Using Naturally-Occurring Antibodies to Treat HIV
Article written on July 7, 2015: by Emily Newman

A recent report published in Nature describes promising findings of a study testing the safety, tolerability and antiviral efficacy of a broadly neutralizing antibody (nBAb) called 3BNC117. This is the first study to show, in human participants, that a broadly neutralizing antibody significantly reduces viral loads and decreases viral rebound in people living with HIV—giving hope for its eventual use in treatment and cure strategies.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) are produced by the immune system of some people living with HIV. What’s special about bNAbs is that they are able to prevent HIV from entering host CD4 cells—and they’re able to do this with many different strains of HIV. The bNAb 3BNC117 is able to neutralize 195 (out of 237 total) strains of HIV. It was isolated from an elite controller—a person whose body spontaneously controls HIV infection without antiretroviral therapy.