UCLA study tips balance in HIV debate

UCLA study tips balance in HIV debate

By Ben Gilmore

Ask most students if HIV causes AIDS and one will receive a
resounding "yes."

Although this point may seem undisputed, there is actually a hot
debate among scientists as to whether the HIV virus directly causes
AIDS.

However, a recent UCLA study suggests that the virus does truly
cause the terminal disease, said Dr. Jerome Zack, co-principal
investigator of the study and professor at the UCLA School of
Medicine.

There are three camps on this issue, Zack explained.

"A small group of individuals feels that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS
at all," he said. "Another group feels that HIV just triggers a
response in the body that then causes AIDS."

Zack places himself in the third camp, and feels that that his
new study conclusively shows the association between HIV and
AIDS.

"It’s been thought by most of us that HIV causes AIDS. There is
a large body of evidence that shows pretty conclusively that the
virus directly causes the disease. We think that the virus is the
direct culprit," Zack explained.

The study looked at blood cells from three different groups of
people. In one group, patients remained at a single stage of AIDS
for a long period of time. Similarly, the number of HIV virus
particles in their blood cells stayed about the same, Zack said

In the second group, patients experienced a gradual onset of
AIDS symptoms. "With a gradual decline, the level of the (HIV)
virus gradually goes up," he said.

In the third group, patients suddenly contracted the disease and
showed a sudden jump in viral blood levels.

"When their immune system takes a dive, the levels of the HIV
virus in their blood cells show a huge jump," Zack added.

Zack’s group carried out the study by thawing out and analyzing
the preserved blood cells of AIDS patients whose cells were taken
every six months, explained Barbara Visscher, professor emeritus of
public health and epidemiology and co-investigator in the
study.

"It’s just like cooking frozen food," commented senior research
associate Jia-Qi Zhao on using the frozen cells, which Visscher
said her group has been collecting since 1984 for an observational
study.

Assessing the number of virus particles in blood cells could
have future applications in diagnosing AIDS, Zhao said.

"We have full confidence in the experiment. We are going to find
out the quickest way to do the analysis to make an early
diagnosis."

The study also has implications for an AIDS cure, Zack said. If
the HIV virus directly causes AIDS, then the focus of research may
shift to finding effective anti-viral agents, he added.

"We need to find a therapy that viruses aren’t resistant to,"
Zack said.

He feels this may be easier than trying to bolster the patients’
own immune response against the disease, which some researchers
currently feel is the answer.

"From a philosophical standpoint, it’s a lot simpler to knock
out an infectious agent than to augment a natural process in the
body," Zack said.