The so-called Düsseldorf Patient's condition is similar to that of the 'Berlin Patient' and the 'London Patient,' who have been in long-term remission after undergoing the risky treatment. Doctors who treated him said the patient is currently in good condition over a decade after receiving a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor.
Researchers recently announced that another HIV patient has been healed after having a hazardous stem cell transplant, MailOnline reported. The 53-year-old has been off anti-retroviral medications, which are generally taken daily to keep the virus at bay, for four years without recurrence.
Fifth Patient Cured of HIV
Researchers say he is the fifth proven example of an HIV cure, referring to him as "the Düsseldorf patient" to safeguard his identity, ABC News reported. Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin Patient," was the first person to be cured of HIV. After that, in 2019, the "London Patient" was published. In 2022, The City of Hope and New York patients were published.
However, experts were unable to declare the Düsseldorf patient as formally healed at the time despite the fact that the facts of his successful therapy were originally revealed at a symposium in 2019.
Dr. Bjorn-Erik Ole Jensen detailed the patient's case in a recent paper, titled "In-depth Virological and Immunological Characterization of HIV-1 Cure After CCR5Δ32/Δ32 Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation" published in Nature Medicine.
He said that the man is truly cured and just simply in remission. Jensen added that the findings encourage optimism, but there is still more work to do.
The patient, who was diagnosed in 2008, said that he could clearly remember what the family doctor told him about his diagnosis and the prospect of it getting healed. At that time, he rejected the notion of getting cured of HIV and only saw it as an alibi at the time.
But now, he is more than pleased with the international team of specialists who cured his HIV and leukemia, which he was diagnosed with six months after knowing he has HIV. On Valentine's Day, the patient marked the 10th year anniversary of his bone marrow transplant, which he considers a special guest.
Receiving Stem Cell Transplant
In February 2013, the patient underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), which was monitored by an international research team led by doctors at Düsseldorf University Hospital.
As per MailOnline, it entailed eliminating the Dusseldorf Patient's harmful blood cells and replacing them with those from a donor who had a CCR5 gene mutation that rendered them immune to HIV infection. The guy was subsequently given chemotherapy and infusions of donor lymphocytes, which are immune cells capable of killing residual cancer cells.
After receiving a stem cell transplant, he continued taking anti-retroviral therapy, which stopped the virus from replicating in his body. When doctors did not detect any active HIV in his blood, he stopped taking the tablets in November 2018 and was kept under close monitoring for four more years.
Details of his case showed no HIV resurgence or a boosting of the immune response to the AIDS-causing virus that would suggest the virus is still present in his body.
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