An HIV patient in Oslo has been in remission for five years since a stem cell transplant from his brother, who was found resistant to the virus – marking what could only be the tenth case of a person being cured of the disease, reports The Independent.
One of the main reasons HIV infections are persistent is that the virus can remain hidden in pockets of cells across various tissues, even when effective treatment keeps the virus under control.
This is why in many patients, the virus tends to return when they stop antiretroviral medication. But previous studies have suggested remission could be achieved after stem cell transplantation from a healthy donor containing a specific mutation – CCR5Δ32/Δ32 – that removes the receptor proteins that HIV uses to infect cells.
This seems to explain the HIV remission of this 64-year-old man, who was diagnosed in 2006.
He had received a stem cell transplant from his sibling to treat his bone marrow cancer, and 24 months later, was subsequently taken off ARVs.
The brother happened to have the CCR5Δ32/Δ32 mutation, and his cells gradually replaced the patient’s immune cells in the blood, bone marrow, and gut tissues.
Tissue samples taken from the patient’s blood and gut two years after the transplant showed no HIV DNA integrated into the host DNA.
A comprehensive analysis of more than 65m immune system cells from the patient showed no virus capable of multiplying, and no detectable HIV‑specific T-cell responses.
His HIV antibody levels also declined over four years after transplantation, researchers found.
“Replication-competent virus and HIV-specific T cell responses were absent, and HIV antibody responses showed a gradual decline,” they wrote in a study published in Nature Microbiology this week.
“The absence of HIV-specific T cell responses in our data supports the hypothesis that such an absence correlates with sustained HIV remission,” they noted.
Clinicians involved in the study point out that such a cure is an unlikely scenario that may not be replicated in other patients.
“A sibling has a 25% probability of being a match for a transplant, and the frequency of CCR5Δ32/Δ32 is around 1% in northern European populations,” said study co-author Anders Eivind Myhre from Oslo University.
“This patient feels as if he has won the lottery twice … He was cured of his bone marrow disease, which could be fatal, and he’s also now probably cured of HIV,” Marius Trøseid, another author of the study said.
The case study shows that receiving donor cells resistant to HIV, combined with full replacement of immune cells across different parts of the body, may help to reduce or remove hidden HIV.
While stem cell transplantation may not be a practical approach for most people with HIV, studying these cases can help identify signs to predict long‑term remission, the researchers said.
Study details
Long-term HIV-1 remission achieved through allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant from a CCR5Δ32/Δ32 sibling donor
Anders Eivind Myhre, Malin Holm Meyer-Myklestad, Hanne Hestdal Gullaksen et al.
Published in Nature Microbiology on 13 April 2026
Abstract
Only few cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remission have been reported after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), mostly involving stem cell donors with the homozygous CCR5Δ32 (CCR5Δ32/Δ32) mutation, which confers resistance to CCR5-tropic HIV-1. Here we report the case of a 63-year-old man in off-treatment HIV remission, 5 years after HSCT with a CCR5Δ32/Δ32 sibling donor for myelodysplastic syndrome. In-depth clinical characterisation including virological and immunological analyses of peripheral blood, gut and bone marrow samples revealed that full donor chimerism was achieved. Antiretroviral therapy was discontinued after 24 months, and 48 months after HSCT, no intact HIV DNA was detected in blood or gut biopsies. Replication-competent virus and HIV-specific T cell responses were absent, and HIV antibody responses showed a gradual decline. Full donor chimerism in the gut, which is the primary viral reservoir, underscores the likelihood of a cure.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Seventh HIV cure tied to stem cell transplant
Bone marrow transplant ‘cures’ French HIV patient
Scientists hail ‘breakthrough’ in quest for HIV cure – Australian study