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Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have discovered that the gut microbiome can influence how well people respond to mRNA COVID vaccines. The study, published in the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, suggests that certain bacteria in the gut can enhance the immune response to the vaccine, whereas other bacteria may weaken it.

A study has shown that the distribution of HIV-1 subtypes in Sweden has changed a lot since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. This is largely due to the migration of already infected people to Sweden. The study focused on people who migrated from Ukraine, so that the care can be adapted to their needs. The results provide important information for future analysis and treatment.

Antiviral drugs almost completely reduce the risk of mothers passing on HIV infection to their children, even in a low-income country with a high HIV incidence such as Tanzania, according to a new study in The Lancet HIV by researchers from Karolinska Institutet. The discovery raises hopes of achieving the World Health Organization’s goal of eliminating the spread of infection from mother to child.

A synthetic prophylactic gel derived from cow mucins was in cellular lab tests 70 percent effective in preventing infection with HIV, and 80 percent effective against herpes, researchers from Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology show in a new a study in Advanced Science.

During the pandemic, it has become evident that people with cardiovascular disease and obesity are at much higher risk of developing very severe, even fatal COVID-19 disease. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified some metabolic processes that SARS-CoV-2 uses to attack lung tissue. The results, which are published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, could one day be used to treat COVID-19, and potentially for other viruses like the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and HIV-1.

Anti-retroviral drugs are a vital tool in the prevention and treatment of HIV. A new study of pregnant women in Tanzania shows that life-long antiviral treatment also seems to prevent viral transmission from mother to baby. The results of the study, which was conducted in part by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in Lancet HIV, make a promising contribution to the WHO’s work with HIV prevention in low and middle-income countries.

For her research in HIV vaccine and design, professor Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology receives 1.8 million US dollar, multidisciplinary, long-term research program (P01) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Professor Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam was elected member of the Academy's Class for medical sciences on 15 January 2020.

When Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) infects a cell, the virus often becomes invisible to both the immune system and drugs. Now research from Karolinska Institutet shows that the integrated virus mimics a specific chromatin structure that lets the virus sequence remain accessible while preventing production of new viruses.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet show that MAIT cells (mucosa-associated invariant T cells), part of the human immune system, respond with dynamic activity and reprogramming of gene expression during the initial phase of HIV infection. The study fills a knowledge gap, as previously there has been a lack of awareness of the function of MAIT cells during this particular phase.

The search for a cure to AIDS has partly focused on ways to eradicate infected cells. Now, new research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S. shows that this approach may not be necessary for a functional cure. In a study focusing on a subset of HIV-positive individuals who can live with the virus without needing treatment, the researchers found that these people’s lymphocytes suppress the virus but do not kill off infected cells.

Hello, Galit Andersson, who recently defended a doctoral thesis at the Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet. For your thesis you conducted large surveys of transgender people and people living with HIV in Sweden to assay their quality of life.

As a young doctor, Anders Sönnerborg was confronted by early Swedish AIDS cases. Meeting the dying patients become the start of his career in HIV research.