[(Title)] Antibody therapy suppresses HIV for weeks at a time: study.

Scientists in the US said Wednesday they have discovered a way to suppress HIV in patients for months at a time using a twin dose of antibodies that could revolutionise how the disease is treated.

美国科学家周三表示，他们已经发现了一种方法，通过使用双剂量的抗体，在一段时间内抑制患者的艾滋病病毒。这种抗体可以彻底改变艾滋病的治疗方式。

Globally, a record number of people receive antiretroviral drugs to manage HIV, but they must follow strict medical regimes to stay healthy, typically taking pills every day for the rest of their lives.

在全球范围内，接受抗逆转录病毒药物治疗艾滋病毒的人数创历史新高，但他们必须遵循严格的医疗手段来保持健康，通常是在生命中的每一天都要服用药物。

Now researchers say a combination of two proteins known to counteract the effects of HIV were able to suppress the virus in patients for up to 30 weeks at a time, providing hope that an alternative treatment to daily drug dosing may be on the horizon.

现在，研究人员称，将两种已知的能够抗击艾滋病毒影响的蛋白质结合，一次能够抑制病人体内的病毒30周之久，这带来了一种希望，即除了每天服药之外还有另一种治疗方法。

"A safe, reliable, antibody-based treatment regimen would open new possibilities for people living with HIV,"  said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US state of Maryland.

马里兰州美国国家过敏和传染病研究所所长安东尼·福希说：“一种安全、可靠、以抗体为基础的治疗方案将为感染艾滋病毒的患者开辟新的可能性。”

"This represents an important, early step towards that goal."

“这是朝着这一目标迈出的重要、开始的一步。”

In twin studies published Wednesday in the journals Nature and Nature Medicine, researchers recruited 15 volunteers who had been treating their HIV with antiretroviral drugs.

在周三发表在《自然和自然医学》杂志的两项研究中，研究人员招募了15名志愿者，他们服用抗逆转录病毒药物治疗艾滋病。

After stopping their medication, they received infusions of two antibodies found naturally in people whose bodies can control HIV without medication.

在停止药物治疗后，他们接受了两个抗体的注入，这些抗体是在无须药物就能控制艾滋病毒的人的体内找到的。

The antibodies target proteins on the outside of the virus and use the patient's own immune system to combat infection.

抗体针对病毒之外的蛋白质，并利用病人自身的免疫系统来防治感染。

The proteins were administered in tandem to prevent the HIV developing immunity — something that had hampered previous antibody-based studies.

这些蛋白质被结合在一起，防止HIV出现免疫力——这阻碍了以前的以抗体为基础的研究。

The trial patients received further infusions after three weeks, and again after six.

这些志愿者患者们在三周和六周后再次接受注射。

Scientists found that the volunteers maintained  "safe"  suppressed levels of HIV for an average of 15 weeks — and two patients managed as many as 30 weeks.

科学家发现，志愿者维持了平均15周的“安全”抑制艾滋病毒水平，有2名患者最多持续了30周。

"This has been tried in the past with antibodies that were far less potent and it did not work,"  Michel Nussenzweig, professor of molecular immunology at Rochester University, told AFP.

罗切斯特大学分子免疫学教授米歇尔·努森茨韦格表示：“这种方法在过去已经尝试过，使用的抗体不够强大，也没有效果。”

"Our idea is to modify them to make them even longer lasting so that people can receive therapy a couple of times a year instead of pills every day."

“我们的想法是改变它们，使其更持久一些，这样人们可以每年接受两次治疗，而不是每天服用药物。”

The UN says nearly 37 million people worldwide are infected with HIV which, if left untreated, can lead to AIDS.

联合国表示，全世界有近3,700万人感染了艾滋病毒。如果不及时治疗，就可能导致艾滋病。

Advances in antiretroviral therapy (ART), which limits the virus but does not kill it, mean that more people than ever are able to live full lives despite being HIV-positive.

抗逆转录病毒治疗方面的进展限制了病毒，但不能杀死病毒。这意味着尽管艾滋病毒呈阳性，很多人还是可以过上充实的生活。

But while ART works almost perfectly in the lab, in real life patients sometimes neglect to take their meds, or lose access to health coverage.

但是，尽管抗逆转录病毒在实验室几乎战无不胜，但在现实生活中，病人有时会忽略了药物治疗，或者无法获得健康保险。

When they don't keep up with their medication, the virus is uncontrolled, and the risk of passing it on to other people increases.

如果他们不坚持药物治疗，病毒就会失控，而传染给其他人的风险就会加大。

Many ARTs also come with unpleasant side effects.

许多抗逆转录病毒也会带来不愉快的副作用。

Nancy Haigwood, from the Oregon Health and Science University which did not take part in the study, told AFP that the biggest potential benefit of the new treatment would be to provide HIV-positive patients a  "drugs holiday"  from ART.

俄勒冈州卫生和科学大学的南希·海格沃德表示，新疗法的最大潜在益处是向艾滋病毒阳性患者带来抗病毒疗法的“药物假期”。

"Antibodies can be used as a safe, new treatment to allow people to go 'off' of drugs for several months,"  she said.

她说：“抗体作为一种安全的新疗法，可以让人们‘离开’药物数月。”

Researchers say while the results of Wednesday's study are encouraging, more trials are needed to lengthen the amount of time the antibodies remain effective.

研究人员称，尽管星期三的研究结果令人鼓舞，但还需要更多的试验来延长抗体的有效时间。

Although AIDS-related deaths have fallen by roughly half in the last decade, UN data shows that 1.8 million people contracted HIV in 2017.

尽管过去十年与艾滋病有关的死亡人数下降了大约一半，但联合国数据显示，2017年，有180万人感染了艾滋病毒。

The year saw 940,000 deaths from the virus.

这一年有94万人死于艾滋病。