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Dying chimpanzees may provide clues to AIDS vaccine

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Chimpanzees in Tanzania that had been infected by particular strains of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, a precursor to HIV, had a mortality rate that was 10 to 16 times higher than uninfected chimpanzees, according to findings published recently in Nature.

Previous evidence had led researchers to believe that chimpanzees may be immune to AIDS and that Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) was harmless to the species. The current findings may provide clues to how SIV and HIV can cause infections in species which are closely related, according to the researchers. This information may lead to more effective AIDS therapies and possibly to a vaccine.

The researchers gathered fecal and urine samples and noted behavioral clues for possible illness or injury. Field necropsies were conducted on dead animals; the resulting tissue and fluid samples were analyzed.

Researchers from the University of Illinois in Chicago and from the University of Alabama at Birmingham were conducting simultaneous investigations on samples from the chimpanzees. A pathologist at the University of Illinois found that tissue samples from a dead chimpanzee bore strong resemblance to samples collected from human patients who had died of AIDS.

Keele BF. Nature. 2009; 460:515-519.