Hemophilia: an amazing 35-year journey from the depths of HIV to the threshold of cure. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc 2010;121:61-73; discussion 74-5
Date
08/11/2010Pubmed ID
20697550Pubmed Central ID
PMC2917149Scopus ID
2-s2.0-79952012545 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 23 CitationsAbstract
Methods developed in the early 1970s to highly purify factor VIII (FVIII) from the plasma of large numbers of blood donors led, for the first time, to concentrates of FVIII that enabled hemophiliac to self-treat, providing independence and opening the way to safe surgery and other treatments. But, with the introduction of blood-borne viruses such as HIV-1 and hepatitis C viruses into the blood supply, these concentrates also transmitted HIV and hepatitis to a high percentage of hemophiliacs. Nevertheless, from the depths of the AIDS epidemic in hemophilia came extraordinary scientific advances that led to recombinant FVIII, the identification of HIV as the agent causing AIDS, the eventual development of effective treatments for AIDS, gene transfer approaches using lentiviruses, and treatments for hepatitis C. All of these have improved the lives of current and future hemophiliacs and have brought us to the threshold of a cure.
Author List
White GCAuthor
Gilbert C. White MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Blood TransfusionCloning, Molecular
Factor VIII
Genetic Therapy
HIV Infections
HIV-1
Hemophilia A
Hepacivirus
History, 20th Century
History, 21st Century
Humans
Protein Engineering
Recombinant Proteins
Transfusion Reaction
