After several decades, are we finally able to clear the body of the HIV virus?

Good news! What took so long?

"... Worldwide, there are currently 38 million people living with HIV, and an estimated 36 million have died of HIV-related diseases in the decades since HIV began circulating, according to UNAIDS. ...

The UCLA-led study continues research on a strategy called “kick and kill,” which many of the same scientists first described in a 2017 paper. The approach coaxes the dormant virus to reveal itself in infected cells, so it can then be targeted and killed. In the earlier study, the researchers gave antiretroviral drugs to mice whose immune systems had been altered to mimic those of humans, and then infected with HIV. They then administered a synthetic compound called SUW133, which was developed at Stanford University, to activate the mice’s dormant HIV. Up to 25% of the previously dormant cells that began expressing HIV died within 24 hours. ...

In the new study, while the mice were receiving antiretrovirals, the researchers used SUW133 to flush HIV infected cells out of hiding. They then injected healthy natural killer cells into the mice’s blood to kill the infected cells. The combination of SUW133 and injections of healthy natural killer immune cells completely cleared the HIV in 40% of the HIV-infected mice. ..."

From the abstract:

"HIV is difficult to eradicate due to the persistence of a long-lived reservoir of latently infected cells. ... Here we show the administration of allogeneic human peripheral blood natural killer cells delays viral rebound following interruption of anti-retroviral therapy in humanized mice infected with HIV-1. Utilizing genetically barcoded virus technology, we show these natural killer cells efficiently reduced viral clones rebounding from latency. Moreover, a kick and kill strategy comprised of the protein kinase C modulator and latency reversing agent SUW133 and allogeneic human peripheral blood natural killer cells during anti-retroviral therapy eliminated the viral reservoir in a subset of mice. Therefore, combinations utilizing latency reversal agents with targeted cellular killing agents may be an effective approach to eradicating the viral reservoir."

UCLA-led team refines ‘kick and kill’ strategy aimed at eliminating HIV-infected cells | UCLA Study in mice could point toward method for clearing virus from people who would otherwise depend on medication

Latency reversal plus natural killer cells diminish HIV reservoir in vivo (open access)