Researchers say that the antibody, dubbed 3BNC117, shows great promise when it comes to reducing viral load

Apr 9, 2015 11:01 GMT  ·  By

In a recent series of experiments carried out with the help of volunteers, researchers at the Rockefeller University in New York City, US, tested the effectiveness of several antibodies against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. 

Of the antibodies that were put to the test as part of this research project, one in particular stood out. Its name is 3BNC117 and the scientists who got to toy with it argue that it shows great promise when it comes to reducing a patient's viral load.

How the antibody works and what it does

In a report in the journal Nature, the Rockefeller University specialists behind this investigation explain that the 3BNC117 antibody essentially keeps HIV from attaching itself to new cells and infecting them.

Of the 237 HIV strains it was tested on, the antibody managed to upset the activity of as many as 195. When introduced in the body of HIV patients in a high dosage, 3BNC117 successfully caused 300-fold drops in viral loads.

No severe side effects were documented, and in some cases, the patients' viral loads remained low for well over 8 weeks following their exposure to the antibody, the Rockefeller University scientists detail in the journal Nature.

Even so, the specialists doubt that 3BNC117 can eradicate all traces of HIV in a patient's body on its own. Instead, they imagine this antibody being administered in combination with other drugs and treatments currently used to tackle HIV.

“Most likely, 3BNC117, like other anti-retrovirals, will need to be used in combination with other antibodies or antiretroviral drugs to keep infections under control,” the researchers write in the report detailing their work.

“One antibody alone, like one drug alone, will not be sufficient to suppress viral load for a long time because resistance will arise,” adds HIV expert and study co-author Marina Caskey.

The antibody is produced by the human body

3BNC117, together with the other antibodies tested by the Rockefeller University team, is produced by the human body itself in response to the presence of HIV. The problem is that this happens after several years of infection, and by that time, the virus already knows how to keep safe from it.

The scientists explain that, in order for these antibodies to work against HIV, they must be grown in the lab and introduced in the body of HIV patients while the infection is still in its early stages and the virus hasn't yet had the chance to evolve to a more potent form.