Monoclonal Antibodies Reduce Virus Levels in SHIV-Infected Macaques

The identification of potent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against HIV may bolster efforts to develop an HIV vaccine and, given the reductions in viral replication shown in mouse models, may prompt advances in therapy. The therapeutic effect of these antibodies has now been tested in a primate model.

Eighteen rhesus macaques infected with a hybrid simian human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) were treated with HIV-specific monoclonal antibodies (either a single antibody or combinations of several). After antibody infusion, the SHIV plasma viral load quickly dropped to below the limits of detection in almost all animals. Virus levels in lymph nodes and gastrointestinal tissues also diminished. In the three animals with the lowest pretreatme…