A study shows that the combination of vaccines is key against AIDS

An international team of researchers has shown in macaques that the combination of vaccines and their administration period are decisive in achieving early and memory immune responses against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) responsible for AIDS. Why are there several vaccines against the coronavirus and none against HIV? Find out more In the study, whose conclusions have been published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, Dr. Beatriz Perdiguero has participated as first author and the virologist Mariano Esteban, both from the National Center for Biotechnology of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), within the framework of an international project financed by the Gates Foundation. “The study in macaques demonstrates the importance of the combination of vaccines and administration times to achieve better immune responses against HIV,” Esteban explained in a note released this Wednesday by the CSIC, noting that the result is applicable to other vaccines. The virologist explained that to control HIV infection, a “powerful sustained over time” immune response is required, with the generation of neutralizing antibodies with a broad spectrum of action, and the activation of specific memory “B and T lymphocytes” against HIV. to the virus. Due to the importance of HIV infection and the disease it causes, it is essential to develop an effective vaccine against this pathogen, which causes some 700,000 deaths per year, the CSIC has highlighted. “In this international, European and American project, we have characterized the effect of combining three types of vaccines on macaques: one based on nucleic acid (DNA), another on a non-replicative poxvirus vector in human cells (NYVAC) and a third on the Env protein of the HIV envelope together with an adjuvant”, Esteban has detailed. In the study, different combinations of the three types of vaccines were carried out and the effect that reimmunization at 36 and 48 weeks could have on the improvement in the immune response due to late booster doses was also verified. Researchers have highlighted that immune markers may be essential in achieving control of HIV infection. And in this sense, they have concluded that the use of the Env protein as the first dose of vaccination administered together with DNA or with the NYVAC vector represents an “optimized” protocol for immunization against HIV. “These studies are important in the development of vaccination strategies against HIV, by enhancing the different components of the immune system that can control the resistance of the virus to the action of the vaccines”, Mariano Esteban has stated. According to the virologist, these works also provide information on how the continued administration of vaccines does not exponentially increase the immune response induced beyond the fourth dose, which may be applicable to the effect that increasing the booster dose may have against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.