CELL THERAPY FOR

HIV
C

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT BY – Athiya Zainab, 11B

 Certificate
Certified that this is the bonafide record of the project work done by
Miss. __Athiya Zainab__ of Grade XII,
as prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education, Delhi during the academic year 2020 –
2021.

…………………… ………………………
Teacher in - Charge Principal

Submitted for the Practical Examination held at The Millennium School, Dubai on
/ /2021.
………………………. …………………………
Internal Examiner External Examiner
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have
provided us with the opportunity to attempt this project. Special mention to Mrs.
Ambika Gulati, our Principal & Mrs. Lini Shivaprasad, our Headmistress, for their
constant support and encouragement.

My sincere thanks to Mrs. Sangeetha Nair, my biology teacher, whose help,

guidance and technical advice enabled me to complete this project.
 OBJECTIVES
• To determine the methods of cell therapy
• To determine its effectiveness in patients through studies
• To state the side effects of cell therapy
• To determine if it can be used globally to permanently cure HIV
 INDEX
I. Introduction

II. Cell Therapy

III. Case Study

IV. Diagnosis Report

V. Analysis Report

VI. Side Effects

VII. Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION

• HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by
destroying the white blood cells that fight infection. This puts you at risk for serious
infections and certain cancers.
• You can get HIV from contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids.
• There were approximately 37.9 million people across the globe with HIV/AIDS in 2018.
• HIV are two species of Lentivirus that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the
immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive.
• HIV infects vital cells in the human immune system, such as helper T cells. When they
decline below a critical level, cell-mediated immunity is lost, and the body becomes
progressively more susceptible to opportunistic infections, leading to the development
of AIDS.
• Without treatment, average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to
11 years, depending on the HIV subtype.
 CELL THERAPY
• Cell therapy (also called cellular therapy, cell transplantation, or cytotherapy) is a
therapy in which viable cells are injected, grafted or implanted into a patient in order
to effectuate a medicinal effect.
• Stem cells are unspecialised cells that have the ability to develop into other functional
cell types. Some types of stem cells can be grown outside of the human body, thus
allowing the production of a large number of cells required for successful applications
of cell therapy in medicine.
• Two main types of stem cells are being explored in the context of cell therapy:
pluripotent stem cells and tissue-specific (adult) stem cells.
• Some cell therapies have been successfully used for many years now. The oldest
example is the bone marrow transplant, which is routinely used in medicine to
effectively treat certain diseases of the blood and immune system, such as leukaemia,
lymphoma and myeloma.
• The ability to turn human stem cells into specialised cell types, such as cells of the brain,
eye or pancreas, has opened up possibilities for developing treatments for many
degenerative diseases. For example, several clinical trials are currently under way to
treat Parkinson’s disease using pluripotent stem cell-derived brain cells.
 CASE STUDY
• Patient : Timothy Ray Brown
• Alias : ‘Berlin Patient’
• Diagnosis : HIV, Acute Myeloid Leukemia
• Mode of Treatment : Antiretroviral therapy, Hematopoietic stem cell transplant
• Status of treatment : Successful/Cured
 DIAGNOSIS REPORT

• Brown remains one of the most studied cases in the HIV epidemic’s history. In 2006,
after living with the virus for 11 years and controlling his infection with antiretroviral
drugs (ARVs), he learned that he had developed acute myeloid leukemia.

• Chemotherapy failed, and the next year Brown, received the first of two bone marrow
transplant as a treatment for this cancer. He however stopped taking ARVs, which can
cause levels of HIV to increase. Yet researchers found that Brown’s blood has only
traces of the viral genetic material, none of which can replicate.
• Three different factors could have rid Brown’s body of HIV:

1. The process of conditioning, by destroying Brown’s own immune system with

chemotherapy and whole body irradiation to prepare him for his bone marrow
transplant.
2. His oncologist found a bone marrow donor who had a rare mutation in a gene that
cripples a key receptor on white blood cells the virus uses to establish an infection
and could deteriorate the cancer along with the HIV.
3. His new immune system attacked remnants of his old one that held HIV-infected cells,
a process known as graft versus host disease.
 ANALYSIS REPORT
• Another study was led by researchers to see how the bone marrow transplant or stem
cell therapy carried out by cell therapy could have aided in the same.

• Bone marrow transplants work because of stem cells. Modern techniques avoid
actually extracting bone marrow, and instead can sift through blood and pluck out the
stem cells needed for a transplant.

• Researchers drew blood from three rhesus macaque monkeys, removed stem cells,
and put the cells in storage. They then infected these animals and three control
monkeys with a hybrid virus, known as SHIV, that contains parts of the simian and
human AIDS viruses. All six animals soon began receiving ARVs and SHIV levels in the
blood quickly dropped below the level of detection on standard tests.
• A few months later, the three monkeys that had stored stem cells underwent whole
body irradiation to condition their bodies and then had their own stem cells reinfused.
After the stem cell therapy, the researchers stopped ARVs in the three animals and in
the three controls. SHIV returned in the three controls and two of the transplanted
animals, while another died from kidney failure.
• Although the study shows that conditioning by itself likely cannot eliminate an HIV
infection, the study leaves open the possibility that graft versus host disease played a
central role in Brown’s cure.
• Another study carried on our three men with HIV showed that they received
transplants from donors who did not have a T-cell mutation. These men had
undetectable viral loads on antiretroviral therapy for four to six years prior to their
transplant, and were maintained on ARV’s post-transplant.
• After the transplant, all three showed decreases in their anti-HIV antibody responses but
these responses did not disappear.
 SIDE EFFECTS
• Stem cell therapies are typically used for patients with leukemia or specific cancers.
They require extensive radiation and chemotherapy first—both are expensive and
dangerous treatments.
• The transplants are also risky, with common complications being infection (often
pneumonia), sepsis, bleeding, organ failure, and chronic graft vs. host disease (when
the donor cells attack the recipient’s tissue).
• The Berlin patient received the transplant as part of his cancer therapy, not specifically
for his HIV. But donors were chosen, without a T-cell mutation, which likely also provided
immunity.
• Stem cell transplants are quite expensive—in the $20,000 to $30,000 range.
 CONCLUSION
• The study shows that conditioning by itself likely cannot eliminate an HIV infection, the
study leaves open the possibility that graft versus host disease played a central role in
Brown’s cure.
• However, stem-cell therapy’s limitations of side effects and cost will make it unfeasible
for most patients. Instead, other research avenues, education, and strong public health
efforts to reduce transmission of HIV should be focused on more.
• Individuals may not benefit from scientific discoveries and may continue to transmit the
virus to others as the virus is not undetectable.
• Overall, though cell therapy has proved effective in patients suffering from HIV, it has
not proved to be permanent in most and is not cost effective in the long run.