New studies show a new antibody is able to reduce populations of HIV in patients for up to 28 days.

In an HIV infection there is an "arms race" between the body's immune system and its invaders. As the body produces new antibodies to fight the virus, the HIV continues to mutate to escape.

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This new therapy uses a potent antibody called 3BNC117 to "catch HIV off guard." Rockefeller University researchers supplied patients with an antibody known as 3BNC117; a type of broadly neutralizing antibody that investigators believe may be able to fight a wide range of HIV strains.

"What's special about these antibodies is that they have activity against over 80 percent of HIV strains and they are extremely potent," says Marina Caskey, assistant professor of clinical investigation in the Nussenzweig lab and co-first author of the study.

This newly developed antibody binds to the CD4 receptor on the surfaces of immune cells, such as T helper cells, which alert the immune system to microbial invaders. This is the same receptor to which HIV attaches itself in its attack on the human immune system.

The study examined 29 patients, 17 of whom were infected with HIV, while the other 12 served as a control group. Researchers tested the antibody at four doses: 1, 3, 10, and 30 milligrams.

Both uninfected and HIV-infected individuals were given a single intravenous dose of the antibody. At the highest dosage levels, all eight of the treated individuals showed a 300-fold decrease in the levels of virus measured in the bloodstream about one week after treatment.

Half of these patients, the viral loads remained below starting levels for at least eight weeks and the virus did not show resistance to the antibodies.

The researchers believed these antibodies have the ability to increase overall immunity to the infection, and even kill viruses hidden in infected cells.

They noted the treatment will most likely need to be used in combination with other antibodies or antiretroviral drugs. The study also provides hope for a potential HIV vaccine that would cause the patient's immune system to produce these antibodies on its own.

Their findings appeared in the journal Nature.

TagsNew Antibody Can Repress HIV for 28 Days, HIV, AIDS, antibody, 3BNC117, antiretroviral drugs, antibodies, immune cells