HIV can lie dormant in the brain, according to new research

Scientists have pinpointed a hiding place for latent HIV in the human body in a new significant breakthrough in HIV research.

In a new study, the scientists confirmed that microglial cells (MG), a type of immune cell in the brain, can serve as a breeding ground for the virus. 

Microglial cells are specialized immune cells that have a lifespan of approximately a decade in the brain. HIV can infect these cells, and some of them then transition into a dormant, latent state. If antiretroviral therapy (ART), the current treatment for HIV, is discontinued, the virus can rebound from these latent cells and reactivate the infection with the potential to revive the progression of HIV infection to AIDS. 

By developing protocols to isolate brain microglia (MG) from humans on long-term, fully suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART), researchers demonstrated the presence of replication-competent HIV, capable of progressing into AIDS, within these cells. This discovery has the potential to propel research that can eradicate HIV completely. 

The peer-reviewed study employed intricate laboratory techniques in which the team overcame ethical obstacles regarding human brain tissue sampling and established protocols to isolate brain microglia (MG) and characterize viral reservoirs, or breeding grounds, in the non-human primate (NHP) model of infection. The team first studied the brains of macaques with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which is closely related to HIV.

They developed techniques to isolate and separate pure brain myeloid cells from CD4+ cells, the key coordinators in immune response when HIV attacks, in the brain tissue.

Applying these techniques, researchers used samples from the “Last Gift” study at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) which recruits people with HIV (PWH) with terminal illnesses who wish to contribute to HIV cure research through tissue donation for rapid research autopsies within six hours of death. The team achieved successful isolation and ex vivo culturing of MG, setting the stage for a deeper understanding of HIV’s persistence in the CNS.

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