Lack of therapeutic efficacy of an antibody to {alpha}4{beta}7 in SIVmac251-infected rhesus macaques

Sustained virologic control of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection after discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a major goal of the HIV-1 cure field. A recent study reported that administration of an antibody against α4β7 induced durable virologic control after ART discontinuation in 100% of rhesus macaques infected with an attenuated strain of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) containing a stop codon in nef. We performed similar studies in 50 rhesus macaques infected with wild-type, pathogenic SIVmac251. In animals that initiated ART during either acute or chronic infection, anti-α4β7 antibody infusion had no detectable effect on the viral reservoir or viral rebound after ART discontinuation. These data demonstrate that anti-α4β7 antibody administration did not provide therapeutic efficacy in the model of pathogenic SIVmac251 infection of rhesus macaques.

Source: ScienceNOW - September 4, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Abbink, P., Mercado, N. B., Nkolola, J. P., Peterson, R. L., Tuyishime, H., McMahan, K., Moseley, E. T., Borducchi, E. N., Chandrashekar, A., Bondzie, E. A., Agarwal, A., Belli, A. J., Reimann, K. A., Keele, B. F., Geleziunas, R., Lewis, M. G., Barouch, D Tags: Microbiology reports Source Type: news