Gero Hütter

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Gero Hütter (born December 18, 1968 ) is a German hematologist . Hütter and his team transplanted bone marrow , which was missing a crucial HIV receptor, to the leukemia patient Timothy Ray Brown , who was also infected with HIV . As a result, HIV was no longer detectable in him. The case generated a lot of media coverage, and Hütter was named one of the “Berliners of the Year” 2008 by the Berliner Morgenpost .

HIV treatment

In 2009, Hütter and other doctors at the Charité in Berlin published an article about the case in the New England Journal of Medicine . Her patient, Timothy Ray Brown, a US citizen living in Berlin , had both acute myeloid leukemia and HIV. Doctors found a bone marrow donor with a CCR5-Δ32 mutation in both genetic copies of a gene that encodes a chemokine receptor called CCR5 on the cell surface. Since "almost all" HIV strains use the CCR5 receptor to attack a host cell, the mutation confers resistance to HIV. The patient himself was heterozygous for CCR5-Δ32. After the transplant, the CD4 + T cells in his blood were homozygous for CCR5-Δ32. The macrophages in his organs, which showed further deviating forms of CCR5 (since they had not yet been replaced by the bone marrow precursors), also showed no detectable virus infection. After 600 days of no antiretroviral drug treatment, the levels of HIV in the blood, bone marrow, and organs were below detectable levels. The virus was suspected to be in other tissue. However, in addition to a brain biopsy, biopsies of the intestine, liver, lymph nodes and bone marrow were also performed on the patient. All were HIV negative. After two and a half years without anti-HIV drugs, no virus was found in his body. His HIV antibody levels are falling, as would be expected in a person vaccinated against HIV. It is believed that the patient's immune system is no longer exposed to HIV and that the levels of HIV antibodies in the blood therefore decrease. Likewise, his HIV antibody test is believed to be negative in a few years.

The mortality rate from bone marrow transplants contraindicated this type of treatment for HIV-positive people without leukemia or lymphoma. Some researchers, such as Edward Berger, suggest that resistance to CCR5 inhibition may develop if CXCR4 strains of HIV become more common. These use CXCR4 instead of CCR5 as a coreceptor and thus become independent of it. Although the patient had low levels of CXCR4 viruses before treatment, this type of HIV could not be further detected afterwards either. Hütter found this "very surprising".

Jay Levy , one of the first researchers to isolate and describe HIV in the early 1980s, wrote an editorial for Hütter's paper in the New England Journal of Medicine . He noted the reduction of detectable HI viruses in the blood and the gradually increasing number of T helper cells, but warns against prematurely calling this treatment a remedy. After all, it is known that HIV hides in latent form in many organs that cannot be easily examined, such as the heart and brain. The high risks of bone marrow transplants also make treatment dangerous, as many patients die in the process. In addition, the CXCR4 viruses detected before treatment may eventually break out. Levy believes, however, that this case "could pave the way for innovative approaches with long-lasting viral control and limited toxicity for patients with HIV infections".

On June 4, 2010, Hütters patient was extremely healthy and free of HIV and cancer for 2 years.

On June 3, 2010, Hütter received an award from the AIDS Policy Project, an interest group for a cure for HIV.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mark Schoofs: A Doctor, a Mutation and a Potential Cure for AIDS - WSJ.com , Online.wsj.com. November 7, 2008. Retrieved March 29, 2010. 
  2. ↑ "The Berlin Patient": The man who defeated HIV . stern.de
  3. ^ A b c Mark Schoofs: A Doctor, a Mutation and a Potential Cure for AIDS , The Wall Street Journal. November 7, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008. 
  4. ↑ a b c G Hütter, D Nowak, M Mossner, S Ganepola, A Ganepola, K Allers, T Schneider, J Hofmann, C Kücherer, O Blau, IW Blau, WK Hofmann, E Thiel: Long-Term Control of HIV by CCR5 Delta32 / Delta32 Stem-Cell Transplantation . In: N Engl J Med . 360, No. 7, 2009, pp. 692-698. doi : 10.1056 / NEJMoa0802905 . PMID 19213682 .
  5. ↑ Bone Marrow Transplant May Have Cured AIDS Patient , Fox News. November 13, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
  6. ↑ Bone marrow 'cures HIV patient' , BBC. November 13, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
  7. ↑ Can a Bone-Marrow Transplant Stop HIV? , Time. November 13, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
  8. ^ Bone marrow transplant suppresses AIDS in patient , Reuters. November 12, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
  9. ^ Gene therapy promises one-shot treatment for HIV , New Scientist. February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
  10. ^ Tina Rosenberg: The Man Who Had HIV and Now Does Not , New York Magazine. May 29, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011. 
  11. ↑ Berliner of the year; 9. Dr. Gero Hütter . In: Berliner Morgenpost , December 31, 2008. Accessed February 12, 2009. 
  12. ↑ Unexpected success with HIV therapy . Berliner Handelsblatt / ECONOMY.ONE GmbH. November 12, 2008. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  13. ^ The First Man to Be Cured of AIDS: An Update on the Amazing Story . The body ; This Month in HIV
  14. ↑ HIV 'cure' won't save sick millions , NewScientist. November 14, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
  15. ↑ Man appears free of HIV after stem cell transplant , CNN. February 11, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
  16. ↑ a b c d e f JA Levy: Not an HIV Cure, but Encouraging New Directions . In: N Engl J Med . 360, No. 7, 2009, pp. 724-725. doi : 10.1056 / NEJMe0810248 . PMID 19213687 .
  17. ^ German Doctor Honored For First Functional Cure For Hiv / Aids .
personal data
SURNAME Huetter, Gero
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German hematologist
DATE OF BIRTH 18th December 1968