University of Colorado scientists have discovered that the immune system may get in the way of the body fighting HIV-1.
The researchers discovered that the body's process of preventing itself from getting an autoimmune disease also gets in the way of building antibodies to fight HIV-1, according to an announcement. The scientists also discovered that some of the people who have HIV-1 create antibodies that protect from many types of strains. The antibodies of such people identify Env, a protein on the surface of the virus after several years of having HIV-1.
Researchers have thought that because those types of antibodies have similar qualities, the immune system stops the body from making the antibodies that fight HIV.
The scientists thought that those who have lupus have lower rates of HIV-1 infection because antibodies identify and fight HIV-1, the announcement said.
The scientists used mice that had symptoms similar to lupus to see if their hypothesis was correct.
The test showed that the body's ability to make antibodies that neutralize HIV-1 correlated to the amount of the antibodies that identify the protein Histone H2A in chromosomes.