HIV und Aids: Von HIV geheilter Patient ist Charité-Mitarbeiter
Der „Zweite Berliner Patient“ wurde als einer von 13 Menschen weltweit von HIV geheilt. Ihm wurden Stammzellen einer gesunden Spenderin inklusive ihres Immunsystems übertragen.
In Berlin, Thomas Kahlert, a 62-year-old employee at the Charité, has been living as one of the "Second Berliner Patient," reportedly one of only 13 people worldwide to be cured of HIV. Kahlert is currently feeling "very good" according to him during the opening of the new HIV cure research center, BeCURE, at the Charité. In 2009, he was diagnosed with HIV during a routine check-up, and in 2015, he was found to have acute myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer.
To treat the leukemia, Kahlert underwent a stem cell transplant, which included a donor's immune system on October 14, 2015, exactly eleven years ago.
After the stem cell transplant, there have been no detectable HIV viruses or cancer cells, leading to Kahlert being considered cured. HIV targets immune cells in the body through specific docking sites called CCR5-receptors. Approximately 1% of the European population has a mutation in these receptors, called Delta-32 mutation, which prevents the virus from entering.
The first "Berlin patient" was cured through a successful match with a donor whose genetic properties aligned with the recipient's and carried the protective mutation. However, in Kahlert's case, no compatible HIV-immune person was found for the stem cell donation. Nevertheless, Kahlert is considered heterozygous, meaning he inherited the mutated version of the docking site from one parent.
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