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French scientists have found the genetic mechanism for a "spontaneous cure" in two HIV-infected men, proposing a new strategy for combating Aids even as other experts urged caution.
The findings were based on a study of two men infected with the human immunodeficiency virus who never developed Aids symptoms.
The virus remained in their immune cells but was inactivated because its genetic code had been altered, said the scientists.
They sequenced the HIV genome in samples taken from the pair who, they said, had experienced an "apparent spontaneous cure".
The mutation may be linked to a common enzyme named APOBEC, the team said, adding: "The work opens up therapeutic avenues for a cure, using or stimulating this enzyme."
The work, published in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection, was carried out by scientists at France's Institute of Health and Medical Research.
Some, however, found the results unconvincing.
"If it came across my desk for review, it would get short shrift, to be honest," University of Nottingham molecular virology professor Jonathan Ball said, insisting the team had provided "no evidence" of a functional cure.
HIV replicates by invading human CD4 immune cells, which it reprogrammes to become virus factories.
A rare group of people - fewer than 1 per cent of those infected - are naturally able to rein in viral replication and keep the virus at undetectable levels.
They are known as "elite controllers", but the mechanism by which they keep the virus at bay remains a mystery.
The French group looked at two such individuals, a 57-year-old man diagnosed HIV-positive in 1985, and a 23-year-old in 2011.
Though they remained infected, standard tests could not detect the virus in their blood.
In both cases, the virus was unable to replicate in immune cells due to mutations in its genetic code, the team found.
They said this may be explained by spontaneous evolution between humans and the virus, a process known as "endogenisation".
A similar process has been witnessed in a population of koalas that has integrated an Aids-like virus into their genes, neutralised it, and were passing resistance on to their offspring.


Means of spontaneous HIV 'cure' found by scientists, but others doubtful

Study co-author Didier Raoult says the work opens up therapeutic avenues for a cure.

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French scientists have found the genetic mechanism for a "spontaneous cure" in two HIV-infected men, proposing a new strategy for combating Aids even as other experts urged caution.
