March 1, 2011
CONTACT: Karen Kreeger
karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu
This release is available online at
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/03/understanding-hiv-elite-suppressors/
Rare HIV-Positive Individuals Shed Light on How Body Could Effectively Handle Infection, Penn Study Shows
PHILADELPHIA - Although untreated HIV infection eventually results in immunodeficiency (AIDS), a small group of people infected with the virus, called elite suppressors (0.5 percent of all HIV-infected individuals), are naturally able to control infection in the absence of antiretroviral therapy, or HAART. Elite suppressors and HIV- infected individuals treated with HAART have similar levels of virus in the blood stream. However, levels of HIV integrated into immune cells are much lower in elite suppressors compared to levels in cells from HIV-infected individuals on HAART, according to a study at the Perelman School of Medicine led by Una O'Doherty, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and published in PLoS Pathogens (http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1001300). Graduate student Erin Graf and postdoctoral fellow Angela Mexas, DVM, PhD, are co-first authors on the paper.
For more information, please read the PLoS Pathogens news release: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/plos-rhi022211.php.
###
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.