Antibodies in HIV-positive blood may contribute to vaccine development

A recent discovery by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers may lead to advancements in developing a vaccine to treat patients with the virus that causes AIDS, according to findings published in Science Express.

During the study, a team of physicians from NIH found two antibodies in an HIV-positive blood sample that eliminated approximately 91 percent of the virus' strains in the blood. In addition to a possible vaccine, the discovery of these antibodies could help scientists develop medications for other diseases that have no cure, according to WebMD.com.

Additional trials have found that as many as 1 in 4 people with the virus contain these antibodies.

"The discoveries we have made may overcome the limitations that have long stymied antibody-based HIV vaccine design," said Peter D. Kwong, chief of structural biology at the NIH Vaccine Research Center.

While these findings bring researchers closer to developing a cure for the virus, the NIH team concluded that it will be years before a vaccine is developed with antibodies that could completely prevent contracting HIV, the website reports.

However, they could prove beneficial in slowing the spread of HIV throughout the U.S. as thousands of people still contract this disease each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2006 approximately 56,300 new HIV cases were diagnosed nationwide.