AIDS viruses found in cerebrospinal fluid of people with HIV dementia

[RustyJ]

AIDS viruses undetected in blood, found in spinal fluid of people with HIV dementia

This is explosive. Check it out, HIV variants in CF not picked up in blood. Sound familiar?

Distinct AIDS viruses found in cerebrospinal fluid of people with HIV dementia
October 6, 2011

The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, has helped reduce HAD. But some studies show that HAART may not offer complete protection from less severe HIV-associated neurological problems, nor might it always help to reverse it. As people live longer with AIDS, their risk of developing neurological problems may increase.

New research for the first time may have pinpointed a possible explanation for the problem, one that might also help predict who is at greatest risk for HAD.

Scientists led by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered that some people diagnosed with HAD have two genetically distinct HIV types in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the clear fluid found in the spaces around and inside the brain and spinal cord. What's more, these variants are not detected in HIV circulating in the blood, and one of them could be present years before the onset of dementia. The detection of these viruses in the CSF is evidence that they are growing in the central nervous system.

In a study published October 6, 2011 in the journal, PloS Pathogens, one of the two HIV variants found in CSF reproduces in immune system T cells, as does the virus growing in the blood. But the other type does not. It infects and replicates in macrophages, another white immune cell that engulfs and digests foreign material, including bacteria.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-distinct-aids-viruses-cerebrospinal-fluid.html

 

[Waverunner]

Absolutely astounding! Thanks for posting it, Rusty.

 

[Enid]

Great (but sad) news Rusty of these findings - strangely with my 12 years of ME I always felt the lumbar puncture should have revealed the pathogen(s) involved before the years of resulting disabilities. Well done Uni of North Carolina - stunning development.

 

[currer]

Good find, Rusty.

Very interesting to see how these retroviruses use the cells of the immune system to infiltrate different tissues and areas of the body which would otherwise be expected to be inaccessible.

Judy Mikovits and Frank Ruscettis finding that HGRVs can be cultured from the B cells (another immune system cell) takes on a fresh relevance.

"Development of XMRV producing B cell lines from lymphomas from patients with Chronic fatigue syndrome."
http://www.retrovirology.com/content/8/S1/A230

Dr Snyderman, in Jamies blog has suggested that his T cells also contain integrated virus which is stimulating cell division, cytokine release and keeping his leukemia activated.
http://treatingxmrv.blogspot.com/2011/09/reason-for-hope.html

So here you also have the possibility that a retrovirus is capable of infecting two different immune system cells, T cells and B cells.

This opens up some very exciting possibilities for treating people with hitherto incurable cancers.

More worryingly it has been suggested that a retrovirus could hijack T cells to bypass the blood brain barrier and that could be a cause of some of the neurological inflammation found in people with ME

 

[Mary Poppins]

Fascinating, thanks Rusty.

 

[pamb]

Thank you so much Rusty. It is so hopeful to see so many tiny threads of knowledge start to weave together. And so many things we have 'known' instinctively starting to be proved not only possible but true. May we all survive long enough to benefit from this amazing new knowledge.

 

[leela]

May the threads be woven together quickly into the sturdy rope that pulls us out of here!

 

[Daffodil]

i think dr. mikovits once told me that she was interested in studying the T cells and they they carry xmrv to the brain

maybe the new meds coming out such as cmv157 will get into the brain in enough concentrations to help

wonder if i have a neurovirulent strain of xmrv in my brain tissue that happens to be resistant to the drugs i have tried.

 

[RustyJ]

i think dr. mikovits once told me that she was interested in studying the T cells and they they carry xmrv to the brain

maybe the new meds coming out such as cmv157 will get into the brain in enough concentrations to help

wonder if i have a neurovirulent strain of xmrv in my brain tissue that happens to be resistant to the drugs i have tried.

Hi Daffodil, I think that this article/study is suggesting that is exactly what is happening in HIV, so if there are parallels in HGRVs then it is quite likely. A failed course of ARVs may not mean much at this stage. Of course, it doesn't help in pointing out where to go as far as patients are concerned, so my commiserations on your poor outcome.

 

[Daffodil]

thanks rusty. just cannot figure out why some recover on valcyte/vistide/valtrex etc. dr. mikovits suggested it is because the drugs kill(?) the same cells that xmrv might be infecting....?

people also recover on ampligen..and one retrovirologist told me ampligen doesnt really get to the brain well. of course, they dont even really know how ampligen works anyway.

i know there are neurovirulent MLV strains..i read an article on that.

 

[RustyJ]

thanks rusty. just cannot figure out why some recover on valcyte/vistide/valtrex etc. dr. mikovits suggested it is because the drugs kill(?) the same cells that xmrv might be infecting....?

people also recover on ampligen..and one retrovirologist told me ampligen doesnt really get to the brain well. of course, they dont even really know how ampligen works anyway.

i know there are neurovirulent MLV strains..i read an article on that.

Stabbing in the dark here Daffodil. There are others more qualified to discuss these matters. I guess patience is the quality we most need at the moment. I am still hopeful that HGRVs will be the cause for some of us. And I think you put your finger on it. Different strains may have different reservoirs or hideouts as well. The study referred to suggests that the strains of HIV with neurovirulence are untouched by conventional treatments and the neurological symptoms progress despite what is regarded as successful treatment. So patients are not really cured, but many symptoms disappear.

Those treated with AVs etc and were cured may either have had dominant secondary viruses, so these symptoms disappeared; only secondary viruses; or may not be cured completely and the scenario of gradually progressing symptoms may yet occur.

The reality for me is that if XMRV panned out, it would still have been years before treatments became accessible and affordable in Australia, so not much was going to change. So that is what I have focussed on to lift myself out of this latest debacle.

I haven't given up though. I still try things though. ATM I am doing Fredd's B12 protocol. I haven't understood why it works, but there is a shift in some of my energies, with some increased fogginess (which may be start up), so I will persist with it.

 

[heapsreal]

Before the whole xmrv thing was heard of, in the book 'reviving the broken marrionette' says that famvir has shown activity against retroviruses, so i wonder if other antivirals may possess similar qualities or that the antiretroviral effects are secondary from treating the herpes infections like cmv, hhv6 etc or retro's ride on the back of these infections some how. Besides what was written in this book i havent been able to find any other studies in relation to this but did find famvir works against hepatittis B. Maybe this is why they always seem to find alot of relationships between retroviruses and the herpes viruses.

cheers!!!

 

[Enid]

Nice thread this and thanks for your time and effort and thoughts.