Three blood proteins known as “CAF” have been identified that allow some HIV-infected patients to stay healthy for more than a decade. For almost 20 years, researchers have been trying to figure out why some people with HIV do not develop full-blown AIDS, while others succumb to the disease almost immediately.
It turns out that the healthy patients have a type of immune cell that produces a protein that helps fight the virus. Patients whose infections progress quickly don?t have CAF (CD8 antiviral factor). These proteins can inhibit both X4 and R5 HIV viruses in cultures of human cells. They act as antibiotics by destroying the membranes of bacteria, although it?s not clear how they fight HIV, which is a virus.
Researcher Jay Levy says, “It’s gratifying to know people are finding all sorts of other natural antiviral factors. And that some of them might lead to a new type of therapy.”
Science reporter Linda Howe investigates mysteries and reports on them weekly on Dreamland. She?s gathered years of her careful research into ?Glimpses of Other Realities, Vol. II,click here and scroll down.
NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.