Man 'Likely Cured' of HIV After Brother's Stem Cell Donation

A Norwegian man known as the 'Oslo patient' shows no detectable HIV four years after a stem cell transplant from his brother, who carries two copies of the CCR5Δ32 mutation. The case study, published in Nature, reports no intact HIV DNA in blood or gut biopsies and full donor chimerism in the gut.

A Norwegian man called the "Oslo patient" is reported as likely cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from his brother who carries a rare genetic mutation. The patient was first diagnosed with HIV in 2006 and later developed myelodysplastic syndromes, a bone marrow disorder. Conventional treatments for the marrow disease failed, and a transplant was done in November 2020. Four years after the procedure, clinical tests reported no detectable intact HIV DNA in his blood or gut. Key details: - The patient is described as a 63-year-old man who was diagnosed with HIV in 2006 at age 44. - In January 2018 he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of bone marrow cancers that impair cell production. - A matched donor could not be found in registries, but his 60-year-old brother was a suitable transplant match. - On the day of the transplant it was verified that the brother carried a homozygous CCR5Δ32 mutation (two copies), a genetic change linked in studies to resistance to HIV infection. - Four years after the transplant, no intact HIV DNA was detected in blood or gut biopsies and there was full donor chimerism in the gut, which the authors say underscores the likelihood of a cure. - Study authors and clinicians note that this approach is not feasible for most of the more than 30 million people living with HIV worldwide and that other strategies are needed. Summary: The case report presents laboratory and biopsy findings that support the likelihood the patient no longer harbors detectable HIV following a stem cell transplant from a donor with homozygous CCR5Δ32. Undetermined at this time.