Dr A H Bandivdekar, senior scientist and deputy director of the National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health (NIRH)
In the global battle against the spread of HIV/AIDS, a major victory has been scored in a rather non-descript lab in a narrow, crowded lane of central Mumbai.
Dr A H Bandivdekar, senior scientist and deputy director of the National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health (NIRH), has developed a compound that blocks the virus from growing and multiplying inside a woman's body in cases where it has been sexually transmitted.
The path-breaking discovery, almost certain to shake up the anti-HIV/AIDS research across the world, can take the risk of HIV infection out of the lives of commercial sexworkers, thus putting a brake on its alarming proliferation. It can also help women married to HIV+ve men lead a normal life.
However, entering Dr Bandivdekar’s third-floor office-cum-lab at NIRH’s Parel facility on Saturday afternoon, one did not get any sense of history being made.
Dressed in a faded polo shirt and loose-fitting khakis paired with floaters, he treated with utter contempt any questions on how soon his discovery could be made commercially available. He’d rather, he said, focus on the ongoing in-vitro trials. “Commercial availability of this anti-dote is not my focus...it’s not even my lookout,” he said.
But Dr Bandivdekar is already the talk of the small anti-AIDS research community. On Friday, he made a presentation in Panaji in Goa to a “very appreciative set of scientists” from across the world. His research, in its various stages, has already been published in three annual reports of the Indian Council of Medical Research.
What the ‘Bandivdekar compound’ (he will not discuss its composition till the patent is cleared) does is it tames Mannose Receptor, a protein found in women’s vaginal epithelial cells that binds with the virus and helps it grow and invade others parts of the body. When the Mannose Receptor is controlled at a certain level or is eliminated completely, the HIV virus, in absence of a carrier, is rendered ineffectual.
The beginning
Till 2003, when Dr Bandivdekar was in very initial stages of his research, the only protein that was known to bind with HIV and make it grow and multiply was CD4, found in abundance in blood cells. But that related to HIV transmission through blood. There was very little clarity on sexually transmitted HIV.
His research first showed that the male sperm is CD4 negative. He later found that the vaginal epithelial cells too were CD4 negative.
Now, a big question loomed - if CD4 acts as a carrier when HIV enters a human body through blood, which protein plays the role of CD4 when HIV is sexually transmitted?
The answer, that came to Dr Bandivdekar after many years of research and experiments was - Mannose Receptor. And then began the race to find an anti-dote. “The compound is ready now. We have no doubts about its efficacy. Clinical trials will begin this year in the US, when we will use it on rhesus monkeys,” he said.
During his research, Dr Bandivdekar looked at 40 sexually active, discordant couples (HIV+ve males and HIV-ve women) and found that very low percentage of vaginal epithelial cells in these women had Mannose Receptor. “Since Mannose Receptor is responsible for carrying the virus beyond the vagina and then letting it multiply, these women have been free of HIV even after regular, unprotected sexual contact with their husbands,” he said.
A 40-year-old TV actor, who was part of this study, tested positive in 2004. He was married and had a 10-year-old son then. However, to his relief, tests showed his wife and son both were free of HIV.
It was later revealed that less than 10 per cent of his wife’s vaginal epithelial cells had Mannose Receptor. “Though I tested positive, the knowledge that my wife and son were safe gave me strength. The news gave me confidence to fight this disease, now I am doing well with my family’s support,” he said.
Mixed reaction
Within the scientific and medical community, there is mixed reaction to Bandivdekar’s discovery. One of the major concern is HIV’s propensity to mutate. “There are lots of other factors involved in the non-transmission of HIV from one partner to the other. In HIV, there are three sub types - A, B and C.
In discordant couples, we have found type C virus not getting transmitted to the partner. However, we need more detailed studies,” said Dr Preeti Mehta, head of microbiology, KEM Hospital.
“Of course these findings give us new hope, it will take our research to another level. But it’s too early for us to let our guard down. In counselling, we still ask discordant couples to use protection when having sex
The virus mutates very fast and that is a constant worry,” said Dr Alka Deshpande, head of Anti-Retroviral Therapy at JJ Hospital.
Dr Amita Joshi, head of microbiology at JJ, offered a similar reaction. “It will be difficult to be able to comment on this research at this stage. This is quite interesting, but I need to go through details,” she said.
source: mumbaimirror
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