HIV Might be Dormant in Brain, New Study Suggests

A colorized electron microscope image shows a single humanimmunodeficiency virus (HIV) as it buds from a human immune cell,which the virus had infected. (NIAID via AP)
A colorized electron microscope image shows a single humanimmunodeficiency virus (HIV) as it buds from a human immune cell,which the virus had infected. (NIAID via AP)
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HIV Might be Dormant in Brain, New Study Suggests

A colorized electron microscope image shows a single humanimmunodeficiency virus (HIV) as it buds from a human immune cell,which the virus had infected. (NIAID via AP)
A colorized electron microscope image shows a single humanimmunodeficiency virus (HIV) as it buds from a human immune cell,which the virus had infected. (NIAID via AP)

A new study published June 16 in the Journal of Clinical Investigations, found that microglial cells, specialized immune cells with a long lifespan in the brain, can serve as a stable viral reservoir for latent HIV.

 

As a part of its life cycle, the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV) inserts a copy of its DNA into human immune cells. Some of these newly infected immune cells can then transition into a dormant, latent state for a long period of time.

 

Although current therapies, such current antiretroviral therapy (ART), can successfully block the virus from replicating further, it cannot eradicate latent HIV. If treatment is ever discontinued, the virus can rebound from latency and reignite the progression of HIV infection to AIDS.

 

In the new study, led by scientists from the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine, it has been confirmed that microglial cells can serve as a stable viral reservoir for latent HIV. The team studied the brains of macaques with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a virus that is closely related to HIV, to get a better understanding of how to extract and purify viable cells from primate brain tissue.

 

Researchers used physical separation techniques and antibodies to selectively remove microglial cells. Using these techniques, researchers then obtained samples that were donated by HIV+ people who were enrolled in “The Last Gift” Study at the University of California San Diego (UCSD).

 

The study involved altruistic HIV+ people, who are taking ART but suffering from other terminal illnesses, will their bodies to further the HIV research project. Now that the researchers know that latent HIV can take refuge in microglial cells in the brain, they are considering plans to target this type of reservoir.

 

“Since latent HIV in the brain is radically different from the virus in the periphery, researchers believe that it has adapted special characteristics to replicate in the brain,” explained first author Yuyang Tang, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UNC.



Pizza Delivery Monitor Alerts to Secret Israel Attack

The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Pizza Delivery Monitor Alerts to Secret Israel Attack

The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)
The Pentagon is seen from the US Army Golden Knights parachute team plane ahead of their performance during the Twilight Tattoo ceremony as part of the Army’s 250th Birthday Festival in Washington, D.C., after taking off from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, US, June 11, 2025. (Reuters)

The timing of Israel's plan to attack Iran was top secret. But Washington pizza delivery trackers guessed something was up before the first bombs fell.

About an hour before Iranian state TV first reported loud explosions in Tehran, pizza orders around the Pentagon went through the roof, according to a viral X account claiming to offer "hot intel" on "late-night activity spikes" at the US military headquarters.

"As of 6:59 pm ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity," the account "Pentagon Pizza Report" posted on Thursday.

While far from scientific, the Pentagon pizza theory "is not something the internet just made up," The Takeout, an online site covering restaurants and food trends, noted earlier this year.

Pentagon-adjacent pizza joints also got much busier than usual during Israel's 2024 missile strike on Iran, it said, as there are "a multitude of fast-food restaurants in the Pentagon complex, but no pizza places."

Pizza deliveries to the Pentagon reportedly doubled right before the US invasion of Panama in December 1989 and surged again before Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal he was fully aware in advance of the bombing campaign, which Israel says is needed to end Iran's nuclear program. "We know what's going on."

For the rest of Americans, pepperoni pie activity was not the only way to tell something was about to happen.

Washington had already announced it was moving some diplomats and their families out of the Middle East on Wednesday.

And close to an hour before Israel unleashed its firepower on Iran, the US ambassador in Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee, sent out a rather revealing X post: "At our embassy in Jerusalem and closely monitoring the situation. We will remain here all night. 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!'"