时代周刊 科学家们还是有望根治艾滋病(2)（在线收听）

But in the latest report presented this month at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston,

然而，本月在波士顿举行的逆转录病毒和机会性感染会议上提交的最新报告中，

researchers revealed the strongest evidence yet that these latent viruses can be activated and eliminated, at least in animals.

研究人员给出了目前为止表明这些潜伏病毒，至少在动物身上，可以被激活也可以被消除的最强有力的证据。

In a study involving a form of HIV that infects monkeys,

在一项针对感染了艾滋病病毒的猴子的研究中，

Dr. Dan Barouch and his colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School

丹·伯鲁克博士和他在贝斯以色列女执事医疗中心和哈佛医学院的同事通过研究

showed that a drug that stimulates the immune system and activates the dormant HIV,

表明一种能够刺激免疫系统并激活潜伏的艾滋病病毒的药物，

combined with a powerful antibody that can neutralize the HIV-infected cells,

配合一种可以中和感染了艾滋病毒的细胞的强大抗体，

prevented HIV from surging back in five of 11 animals, six months after they stopped taking ARVs.

成功阻止了11只动物中的5只体内的艾滋病毒在其停止服用抗逆转录病毒药物六个月后重新发作。

In the monkeys whose HIV did return, the virus levels were 100 times lower than they were in animals that were not treated at all.

而那些确实复发的猴子体内的病毒水平也已经降到了完全没有接受治疗的动物的1/100。

"I think our data raises the possibility that an intervention achieving a functional cure is possible,” says Barouch.

“我认为，我们的数据使干预措施实现功能性治愈成为了可能，”伯鲁克说到。

"It shows a level of potential efficacy, at least in animals, that to the best of my knowledge hasn’t been seen before."

表明了一定程度的潜在的，至少在动物身上具有的功效，而这种功效是目前为止我还从未见过的。”

The fact that nearly half of the animals did not show the typical spike in HIV that normally comes within two weeks of stopping anti-HIV drugs suggests

近一半的动物都没有出现停止抗HIV药物后的两周内通常会出现的艾滋病病毒感染率明显陡增这一事实也表明，

that Barouch’s so-called "shock and kill” approach may be effectively targeting that elusive reservoir of dormant virus.

伯鲁克所谓的“激活并杀死”的方法或许真的有效地对准了那些神出鬼没的潜伏病毒。

It’s a promising step toward the next frontier in HIV treatment:

可以说这是朝着艾滋病治疗的下一个前沿迈出了充满希望的一步，

ridding people of the virus and, potentially, their lifelong dependence on ARV drugs.

驱除患者体内的病毒，甚至有望斩断大家对抗逆转录病毒药物的终身依赖。

The method hasn’t yet been tested in humans, and a cure is likely still years in the making.

该治疗目前尚未进行人体测试，治愈可能还需要数年时间。

But there is hope.

不过，希望仍在。

In the epidemic’s history, one person is believed to have been cured of HIV.

在该流行病的历史中，据说有一个患者的艾滋病是被治愈了的。

Timothy Ray Brown, an American who is now 52, was studying in Berlin in 1995 when he tested positive for HIV.

现年52岁的美国人蒂莫西·雷·布朗1995年在柏林学习，当时他被诊断出艾滋病毒检测呈阳性。

He kept his virus under control with a combination of ARVs for about 10 years,

他用各种抗逆转录病毒药物将自己的病情控制了将近10年时间，

until he was hit with another devastating diagnosis: leukemia, which his doctors believed was not related to his HIV.

直到他接到了另一个毁灭性的诊断：白血病，但他的医生认为该病与他的艾滋病毒无关。

To treat the cancer, Brown took chemotherapy

为了治疗癌症，布朗接受了化疗

and had two bone marrow transplants to replace the malignant cells in his blood and immune system.

并进行了两次骨髓移植，以替换血液和免疫系统中的感染细胞。

His doctor, who was aware of Brown’s HIV status, had the foresight to find a special donor for Brown

他的医生，对布朗的艾滋病病毒感染状况了然于胸，颇有远见地为布朗找到了一位特殊的捐赠者，

who carried a mutation that would make it impossible for HIV to infect his newly transplanted cells.

该捐赠者携带了一种突变，HIV无法感染他新移植的细胞。

Brown stopped taking ARVs when he received the bone marrow transplants, and more than a decade later, no test has found any active HIV in Brown.

布朗接受了骨髓移植手术后便停止服用抗逆转录病毒药物了，十多年后，布朗体内也没有检测到任何活跃的艾滋病毒。