HIV, AIDS Cure & Treatment: New Findings on Vaccine Response Out

In the HIV vaccine trial conducted in Thailand, scientists have found that genes may play an important role in the effectiveness of the vaccine.

The trial of the HIV vaccine named RV144 was conducted in Thailand with the supervision of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP). Over the course of 42 months, the vaccine was able to protect only 31 percent of the participants against HIV-1 infection.

The scientists studied the test and were curious if the HLA immune response alleles played a role in the body's protection against the virus. The findings published in the journal Science Translational Medicine revealed that certain HLA class II genes affected "the quantity and quality of vaccine-induced antibody responses to affect HIV acquisition and vaccine efficacy," Medical Xpress reported. This suggests why the vaccine is only effective in some people thanks to their genetic makeup.

For the study, the researchers enlisted 760 people to find out if specific gene variants boost the effectiveness of the vaccine. According to HealthDay, those with the gene variant were protected by nearly 75 percent.

"The gene identified in this study is one of those that has long been known to be directly involved in the immune response to infection," said co-author Daniel Geraghty, a scientist at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The researchers believe that their research can help mold the effectiveness of future vaccines.

Dr. Susan Buchbinder of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, who was not involved in the study, commended the new research but said that further studies need to be made with culturally diverse participants.

"Understanding why [the vaccine] appeared to work in some individuals and may not have worked in others is really paramount to moving the field closer to an effective [HIV] vaccine," Bruce Walker, director at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital and was not involved in the study, told The Scientist.

According to US News & World Report, Geraghty said versions of vaccines can be given to people with different genetic makeup. However, Buchbinder suggests that a much stronger and more effective vaccine should be developed that it would work on anyone regardless of their body's gene variations. She added that the study may give a more in-depth insight of varying immune responses and may serve as a guide for any vaccines that may be developed in the future.

"This should be studied further to try and determine how the vaccine may have worked and how we might be able one day to predict such protection, and design more effective vaccines from the beginning," said Rasmi Thomas, co-author of the study and lead investigator of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program.