Bone marrow transplant suppresses AIDS in patient

BERLIN (Reuters) - A bone marrow transplant using stem cells from a donor with natural genetic resistance to the AIDS virus has left an HIV patient free of infection for nearly two years, German researchers.

The patient, an American living in Berlin, was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS and also had leukemia. The best treatment for the leukemia was a bone marrow transplant, which takes the stem cells from a healthy donor's immune system to replace the patient's cancer-ridden cells.

Dr. Gero Hutter and Thomas Schneider of the Clinic for Gastroenterology, Infections and Rheumatology of the Berlin Charite hospital said on Wednesday the team sought a bone marrow donor who had a genetic mutation known to help the body resist AIDS infection.

The mutation affects a receptor, a cellular doorway, called CCR5 that the AIDS virus uses to get into the cells it infects.

When they found a donor with the mutation, they used that bone marrow to treat the patient. Not only did the leukemia disappear, but so did the HIV.

"As of today, more than 20 months after the successful transplant, no HIV can be detected in the patient," the clinic said in a statement.

"We performed all tests, not only with blood but also with other reservoirs," Schneider told a news conference.

"But we cannot exclude the possibility that it's still there."