What strategies should be considered for an HIV vaccine,
Understanding HIV/AIDS: six questions
Downloaded from http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline by BhDMf5ePHKbH4TTImqenVGBWJMQ4hzAONyBwYlc6+2PAIQrucgjGp6u6Gy9tHOku on 02/06/2019
and, in primarily focusing on antibodies to neutralize the
to consider
Recently, Jay Levy, Professor of Medicine at the
University of California San Francisco, published an
article entitled ‘Dispelling myths and focusing on notable
concepts in HIV pathogenesis’ (Trends in Molecular
Medicine 21 : 341–353). In it, he poses six outstanding
questions in the field of HIV, with the goal of
encouraging novel basic and clinical research approaches:
Is HIV infection a universally fatal diagnosis, and what can
we learn from individuals who are able to ward off
infection or live asymptomatically for years without
therapy? Is anti-HIV innate immunity as important as
adaptive immunity, and how can we enhance innate
immunity to prevent and control infection? How do
CD8þ T cells combat HIV, and how important is their
noncytotoxic vs cytotoxic antiviral activity? Given the
potential long-term toxicity of antiretroviral treatment,
should it be initiated in all healthy, infected individuals?
DOI:10.1097/QAD.0000000000000919
ISSN 0269-9370 Copyright Q 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
virus, are we neglecting other important possibilities,
such as enhancing the antiviral cellular and innate
immune responses to prevent infection? Finally, what
approaches for an HIV cure should be encouraged?
Pursuing the answers to these questions may yield
information essential for controlling, preventing, and
potentially curing HIV infection.
Kristin Nicole Harper
Seattle, Washington, USA.
Correspondence to Kristin Nicole Harper, PhD,
Harper Health & Science Communications, LLC,
Seattle, WA, USA.
Tel: +1 314 550 5191;
E-mail: kristin.nicole.harper@gmail.com
Received: 21 August 2015; revised: 30 September
2015; accepted: 30 September 2015.
N1