Cows Could Hold Key In Beating HIV
Holy. Cow.
Aside from their delicious meat, nutritious milk, and sturdy leather, cows might have another very important thing to offer that could make it the most valuable livestock for humans.
image from pixabay
A research published in the journal Nature revealed that cows can rapidly produce special types of antibody that can neutralise HIV. That is something humans can't do.
HIV is very difficult to beat because it mutates and changes its appearance every time a patient's immune system finds a way of attacking the virus. But few patients eventually develop "broadly neutralizing antibodies" years after the infection.
Scientists then are looking for vaccine that could train the immune system to make neutralizing antibodies that could help people from being infected but they are not making any real significant progress.
Until they started immunizing cows and got remarkable results showing the cattle's antibodies could neutralize 20% of HIV strains with 42 days and 96% of strains within 381 days.
Cows' immune system are producing antibodies in a matter of weeks compared to humans who need three to five years to develop the same antibodies.
"The response blew our minds," Dr Devin Sok, one of the researchers, told the BBC News website.
Dr Sok added: "It was just insane how good it looked, in humans it takes three-to-five years to develop the antibodies we're talking about.
Dr Dennis Burton, a fellow researcher, said: "The potent responses in this study are remarkable.
"Unlike human antibodies, cattle antibodies are more likely to bear unique features and gain an edge over HIV."
It means that cattle could be the eventual source of drugs to make more effective vaginal microbicides to prevent HIV infection.
While the real goal is to develop a vaccine that will encourage our immune system to make antibodies against HIV, the result of the study could hold the key.
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I wouldnt know if Im not reading your post..Holy cow !!
Hehe. Thanks for reading.
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