HIV targets intestines first, not blood cells: Mehandru

In a groundbreaking study that could lead to the proliferation of the HIV virus in the human body, an Indian-American doctor and his team of researchers at the Rockefeller University have discovered that the HIV first attacks and destroys the immune cells or the T-cells in the intestines instead of coursing through the blood cells, as is believed to be the case. The study by Dr Saurabh Mehandru and his team was published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, one of the leading scientific journals in the world. In an interview with The Indian Express, Mehandru, 32, recounted his days in Cambridge School in New Delhi, his being named ‘‘Best Post-Graduate of the Year’’ at medical school in New Delhi, and later being recognised as ‘‘Resident of the Year’’ in Internal Medicine at New York University. He said that the discovery also makes it possible to detect the HIV virus within days of the infection. ‘‘It is now possible for HIV to be discovered within 15-20 days of the infection,’’ said Mehandru, who spent a year researching on the subject.

He adds, however, that the infected person has no apparent signs of the malaise and doctors can detect the infection in the intestines only with a biopsy. A healthy person would not go for such a test, he added. Mehandru’s findings reveal that much before changes become evident in the blood, major immune destruction has already occurred in the intestines. only partially effective in the intestines.