Showing posts with label HIV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HIV. Show all posts

HIV Drug Reduces Transmission Among Men By Over 40%, Study Finds


A daily dose of antiretroviral medication lowered the risk of contracting HIV by more than 40% among men who have sex with men, according to a study published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the New York Times reports.

The results of the study -- nicknamed iPrEx -- "are the best news in the AIDS field in years" and "could change the battle" against HIV/AIDS, according to the Times . Experts suspect the medication will be successful in other groups but caution that it must be tested first.

Details of Study

An international team of researchers enrolled 2,499 MSM at 11 sites in six countries to test a prevention strategy known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, which has been successful in preventing other diseases. The team was led by Robert Grant of the University of California-San Francisco Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology and Javier Lama of the Investigaciones Medicas en Salud in Lima, Peru . NIH and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded the study .

Half of the participants received a daily dose of Truvada, an antiretroviral drug containing emtricitabine and tenofovir, while the other half received a placebo. Both groups received counseling about condom use and safer sex practices. The researchers found that 36 participants taking Truvada contracted HIV, compared with 64 in the placebo group, representing a 43.8% reduction. They noted that the decrease was dependent on how frequently the subjects took the medication. Those who adhered to their medication at least half of the time experienced a 50.2% decline in risk, while those who took their medication at least 90% of the time saw a 72.8% risk reduction .

Caveats to Strategy

The researchers noted several limitations to the study, including that it only involved MSM and one combination of antiretroviral drugs. They said additional studies are under way to test Truvada in other high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers and intravenous drug users, and heterosexual men and women.

Some HIV/AIDS advocates and scientists expressed concern about the cost of the strategy. Truvada costs between $12,000 and $14,000 annually in the U.S. Generic versions in developing countries cost as little as 40 cents per pill. They said they are also concerned that placing people on the drugs will speed the evolution of drug resistant strains of the virus or that people will stop using condoms .

Kevin Fenton, AIDS prevention chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that prophylaxis "should never be seen as a first line of defense against HIV," adding, "It's not time for gay and bisexual men to throw out their condoms" .

Grant said that the findings are "a major advance," but the strategy "will only work if people use it consistently, and the real challenge is how do you use it consistently" .

Advances in Preventive Approach

The findings follow this year's success with a vaginal microbicide gel and a proof-of-concept trial on an HIV vaccine . The microbicide study indicated that the gel protected 39% of all women testing it and 54% of those who used it consistently .

Alan Bernstein, health of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, said, "This is a very exciting, dynamic time in HIV prevention research," adding, "There's clearly a growing realization that we're not going to be able to treat our way out of this epidemic" .


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Researchers try new approaches to preventing HIV


Tablets, insertable rings and dissolving films can effectively deliver drugs to help protect women and perhaps men from infection with the AIDS virus, researchers reported on Monday.

They also found evidence that using such an approach -- called a microbicide -- may help overcome some of the risks of drug resistance that can come with taking pills to prevent infection.

Here are some of the findings from the International Microbicides Conference being held in Pittsburgh:

* A flexible ring designed for use in the vagina can continually deliver two AIDS drugs for up to a month. Andrew Loxley of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based Particle Sciences, Inc., and colleagues lab tested a vaginal ring that time-released dapivirine, a drug made by Johnson & Johnson's Tibotec Inc and licensed to the International Partnership for Microbicides, and the entry inhibitor maraviroc sold by Pfizer under the brand name Selzentry. It has not been tested in people yet.

* A vaginal tablet worked in similar fashion, time-releasing maraviroc and another experimental HIV drug called DS003, licensed to the International Partnership for Microbicides by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanjay Garg of the University of Auckland in New Zealand told the conference. The tablet uses a polymer designed to attach to the moist lining inside the vagina.

* A third approach uses a film, Anthony Ham of ImQuest BioSciences of Frederick, Maryland reported. ImQuest is testing the HIV drug IQP-0528 in a film smaller and thinner than a stick of gum, similar to a mouthwash strip.

* Susan Schader of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and colleagues said tests of these and other HIV drugs used as microbicides showed that drug resistance emerged only if HIV was in the lab dish first -- which suggests people would only develop drug-resistant infections by using microbicides when they were already infected.

* The AIDS virus infects more than 33 million people globally and it has killed 25 million, according to the United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS. Globally, more than half of those with HIV are women, most infected by husbands or steady partners and many of whom who are unable to insist on use of a condom.

* AIDS experts have long been searching for a microbicide -- a cream, gel or vaginal ring that women or men could use as a chemical shield to protect themselves from sexual transmission of the deadly and incurable virus.

* Microbicides using HIV drugs would represent a large new market for the companies that make the drugs, which are now used only to treat infection.



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New Drug-Interaction Warnings for All HIV Protease Inhibitors


Package inserts for all of the approved protease inhibitors (PIs) used to treat HIV have been updated to reflect important drug-drug interactions, according to an April 27 e-mail announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Drug-drug interactions are a common obstacle among people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy. This is especially true for those using PIs, widely known for their ability to compete with other medications for enzymes that regulate drug levels in the body. This can elevate blood levels of one or more drug, ultimately increasing the risk of side effects; it can also reduce blood levels of medications and reduce the effectiveness of treatment.

Among the important interactions to be added to all PI package inserts include those involving Revatio (slidenafil), Uroxatral (alfuzosin), Advair and Serevent (both contain salmeterol), Tracleer (bosentan), Adcirca (tadalafil) and colchicine.

Revatio, a version of the erectile dysfunction medication sildenafil, is prescribed to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is contraindicated among people living with HIV using PIs, meaning that the drug should not be used under any circumstances.

Tracleer and Adcirca are also used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension and should be used cautiously. According to the FDA, their doses may need to be adjusted when combined with protease inhibitors. The agency also warns against using Tracleer with the PI Reyataz (atazanavir) if a Norvir (ritonavir) booster is not also included.

Advair and Serevent are frequently prescribed to help manage symptoms of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and sometimes seasonal allergies. They should not be combined with protease inhibitors.

Uroxatral, used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men, is also contraindicated among people using HIV protease inhibitors.

Colchicine, a natural produce derived from the Colchicum genus of plant, is used to treat gout and familial Mediterranean fever. Depending on the PI used, dose adjustments may be necessary. Additionally, colchicine should be avoided among those who take PIs and have a history of either liver (hepatic) or kidney (renal) impairment.



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New Drug Boosts HCV Clearance

Most hepatitis C patients who are initially unresponsive to standard therapy were able to achieve sustained virologic responses when the investigational drug boceprevir was added, a researcher reported here.

Sustained responses were seen in 55% of patients receiving 44 weeks of boceprevir after showing no virologic response to four weeks of pegylated interferon-alfa-2b (PEGIntron) and ribavirin (Rebetol) in a Phase II trial, said Paul Kwo, MD, of Indiana University in Indianapolis.

Kwo, speaking here at the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease meeting, was reporting on two secondary analyses of data from the SPRINT-1 trial of boceprevir, an inhibitor of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3 protease enzyme.

He had presented the main findings of the 520-patient study earlier this year at the European Association for the Study of the Liver meeting in Copenhagen.

Boceprevir is one of two HCV protease inhibitors in late-stage development, the other being telaprevir. (See DDW: Telaprevir Improves HCV Clearance in Resistant Patients) Phase III trials of both drugs are now under way.

In the SPRINT-1 trial, treatment-naive patients were randomized to five treatment arms, including one in which patients only received pegylated interferon and ribavirin, two involving immediate treatment with all three agents, and two in which boceprevir started after an initial, four-week lead-in with interferon and ribavirin.

All patients had HCV genotype 1a or 1b, mostly the former.

The secondary analyses reported here focused only this last treatment strategy, with patients receiving either 24 or 44 weeks of triple therapy following the four-week, two-drug lead-in.

Boceprevir was dosed at 800 mg three times a day.

In patients with no response to the lead-in -- defined as a reduction in HCV RNA loads of less than ten-fold -- 25% of those receiving boceprevir for 24 weeks still showed viral clearance after an additional 24 weeks of follow-up.

With 55% of initial null responders receiving the drug for 44 weeks showing long-lasting viral clearance, the longer therapy appeared to be more effective, Kwo said.

He also noted that boceprevir for both durations boosted response rates well above what would normally be expected from standard therapy in patients without strong responses in the first four weeks.

He cited results from an earlier large trial in which less than 5% of early nonresponders to standard therapy eventually developed sustained responses.

Among patients showing strong responses in the first four weeks of interferon and ribavirin, sustained responses were seen in most.

More than 80% of those with initial reductions of three to four orders of magnitude in viral RNA levels had sustained responses, as did nearly 100% of those with reductions of at least four orders of magnitude or whose viral RNA became undetectable in the first four weeks.

Duration of boceprevir treatment appeared to make no difference in sustained virologic response rates in these patients.

But Kwo cautioned that the findings in these analyses involved relatively small numbers of patients. Only about 50 patients were considered null responders to the lead-in treatment, and similar numbers had relatively strong initial responses.

Overall, adding boceprevir after the four-week lead-in led to sustained responses in 56% of patients receiving boceprevir for 24 weeks, and in 75% of those taking the drug for 44 weeks, Kwo said. Both response rates were significantly (P<0.01)>


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Pharmac funds new HIV drug

HIV patients have a new fully funded treatment option, but have missed out on funding for another which increases the new drug's effectiveness.

The Government drug funding agency Pharmac yesterday said it would fully fund Isentress, the first in a new class of medications called integrase inhibitors.

It works by preventing HIV viral DNA inserting itself into human DNA, blocking the virus's ability to replicate and infect new cells.

"This is great news for people with HIV infection who have limited treatment options, and for the doctors treating them," said Auckland City Hospital infectious disease physician Simon Briggs.

"The funding of Isentress is timely as some of these patients have been waiting for new, funded HIV medications for some years."

The Aids Foundation welcomed the funding for Isentress, but questioned why Pharmac would not also pay for a protease inhibitor called Darunavir.

Darunavir increases the efficacy of Isentress when the two are used together.

Developed by Janssen-Cilag, Darunavir has been funded in Australia for nearly two years.

Isentress and Darunavir were approved by Medsafe last year and Janssen-Cilag gives free Darunavir to 30 people in New Zealand through a compassionate supply programme.

"The availability of Isentress is timely," said Aids Foundation spokesman Eamonn Smythe.

"Over the next few years, increasing numbers of patients will require this new class of medication.

"However, research has shown that Isentress and Darunavir, when used in combination with each other, are extremely effective in the management of HIV," he said.

A Pharmac spokesman said Darunavir was a different drug made by a different company, and was not included in the deal Pharmac struck with drug company Merck Sharp & Dohme which makes Isentress.

Any deal with Janssen-Cilag would have to be addressed separately. It was on a "to-do list" but was not guaranteed, he said.

Pharmac will also fund other new drugs after it came to an agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme.



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Confidential Pathology Tests for HIV, Chlamydia and other STDs

Are you worried that you may have HIV? or Chlamydia? Don't be nervous. A number of clinics are providing confidential STD tests at affordable prices. These labs keep everything from your identity, your test procedures, and the nature of the tests you have had and your test reports, absolutely private and confidential.

Let's discuss the nature of a few of these diseases, their symptoms and the tests required to treat them.

HIV and Chlamydia

HIV also known as "Human Immunodeficiency Virus" can lead to acquired immuno deficiency syndrome or AIDS. The disease is incurable, progressive and often fatal and weakens the immune system of our body by reducing the WBC (white blood cells) count.

Chlamydia is a treatable, sexually transmitted disease among men and women. It is a bacterial infection caused by Chlamydia Trachomatis. It can be treated with antibiotic medication. If left untreated, the infection can induce critical health problems, especially of the reproductive kind and can lead to disorders, both transient and permanent.

Tests

HIV tests are carried out by detecting the virus through the samples of blood. The subject's blood is screened through various complex methods. A number of nhs as well as private organizations offer private screening that only you and your physician will be aware of.

For Chlamydia, tests like nucleic acid amplification (NAAT) are employed. Just like HIV, a Chlamydia test can be obtsined through a private doctor.

Clinic Facilities for STD

STD clinics or clinics for sexual health specialise in treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Many of them also promote birth control. The various services provided by these clinics include informing people about safe sex, birth control, providing sex education, distributing condoms, conducting health examinations, performing tests, providing medication and specific treatments as well as vaccination facilities.

Most nhs health clinics provide free checkups and tests and also maintain complete confidentiality.

The Question of Privacy

Most clinics follow set standards of confidentiality to safeguard the privacy of their patients. Anonymous services are provided by select clinics where the patient can use a code name or a false name and still get the test done.

All patients are informed about the procedure and consequences of these tests and are free to make a choice on whether they want a particular test conducted or not.

If you are in doubt, then don't just sit there. Visit your nearest clinic, get an appointment as soon as possible and get the relevant tests done. It is better to know about your present condition rather than have it play on your mind all the time.

by : Jessica Thompson
Source : www.amazines.com


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AIDS and the condom

Yellow fever, malaria and cholera, previously controlled by an adequate health program, are now raging unchecked throughout these countries. "Nigeria, one of the wealthier counties under the IMF program, is also feeling the limitations imposed upon it. Nigeria has sixty percent of all doctors and nurses in black African countries, but this healthcare force has been steadily cut down since 19, until today, Nigeria is ripe for a massive outbreak of the traditional diseases which will make it easy for AIDS to spread like wild fire.
"The condom solution is being used by the IMF for the purposes of birth control, and although extensive advertising campaigns were launched to promote their use, the quality of the condoms is so poor that as much as eighty percent of them break or leak. "The AIDS virus has entered into an explosive phase in Africa, and the same condition is fast being approached by Asian countries such as India and Thailand. By the year 2000, computerized projections show that there will be close to one-hundred million cases of AIDS in Africa, with India and other parts of Asia projected as having a combined total of ninety million cases. "Projections carried out at Los Alamos indicate that there will be a total of two-hundred million cases of AIDS in underdeveloped countries by the year 2000. There is some concern beginning to surface among the team that the AIDS pandemic may not be stoppable.

With seventy-nine to eighty percent of AIDS cases occurring in Third World countries, AIDS may well already be out of hand. There is an acceleration of the epidemic which is matched by a diminishing of responses. "Almost seventy percent of all AIDS cases in Africa are among heterosexuals. The same holds true for Asia and Brazil. By the year 2000 the number of people in Asia suffering from AIDS will equal those of Africa. AIDS has become the killer of the poor, thanks to the cuts in standards of health care and lowered nutrition standards to meet IMF demands. "The latest report from WHO which is not being circulated is that governments of poor countries have given up the struggle to contain AIDS.
This applies particularly to India, where the AIDS epidemic is exploding with a virulence unmatched in Western countries. "From the point of view of senior virologists, there is no cure in sight for AIDS. The view taken by Dr. Jonas Salk that a means must be found of boosting the human immune system rather than trying to develop antibodies that can kill the AIDS virus appears to be gaining ground among those members of the medical profession who are realizing that AIDS is a created virus. "Underlining the findings of how the IMF is affecting the situation, a new threat, that of a highly virulent form of tuberculosis is now taking hold in poor countries and among the poor in the United States.… A report compiled by the CDC which is not being circulated says that the incidence of the new drugresistant strain of bacilli is now twice as high since the last study was done in 1984.

Tuberculosis has increased by twenty percent in the U.S. since 1985. Every TB patient is a target for the AIDS virus, and those with AIDS are highly susceptible to contracting tuberculosis. The ramifications are not difficult to comprehend; a twin plague of the most virulent kind is about to explode with great force in the overcrowded inner cities of America, and has already begun. "To confirm the ratio of tuberculosis to conditions of poverty, a recent study of the homeless was undertaken by a Los Alamos team.
The results bear out the "poor man's disease" label in that homeless people are forty times more likely to contract tuberculosis than those in comfortable circumstances. The conclusion drawn is that the spread of TB is accelerating at a faster rate than ever seen before, and that the outbreak of lethal epidemics are at hand." AIDS is the key to Global 2000 plans, because of its effectiveness in attacking the lungs. Imagine a searing epidemic of AIDS, followed by an epidemic of tuberculosis and then pneumonic plague, like the one that killed hundreds of thousands in Manchuria and eastern India during the period 1910-1911 and again in Europe in 1919-1921. (66 of ) When the AIDS virus becomes localized in the lungs, it is spread by respiratory discharges, such as coughing and sneezing, and in favorable climatic conditions becomes a highly contagious infectious disease.

One of the favorable conditions for the spread of AIDS is crowded dwelling space, inadequate ventilation and the weather, especially when the weather is cooler, as it is during winter in the Middle East, India and Pakistan, Malaysia and the Philippines. Pneumonic Plague would thrive in those conditions. It is not difficult to envision the rapid spread of tuberculosis in the wake of AIDS, followed by pneumonic plague throughout Africa, given the conditions so graphically described by Dr. Debret in his 1989 Paris Match interview, and spreading from Africa to India, the Philippines, Malaysia and China.
The United Nations, backed by military forces of the United States, could effectively quarantine these nations, making it difficult for anyone to escape the "cordon sanitaire" set up by the World Health Organization or some other One-World institution. Millions would be left to die. Somalia was a "test case." After a new mosquito-borne malaria that acts against the immune system was released into the population, U. N. troops were sent in to test the "cordon sanitaire." As this strategy moves forward, loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to Third World countries will increasingly require governments to enforce specific plans to diminish their populations. Contraceptives and severe penalties for families exceeding certain numbers are a part of this regimen.

McNamara will emphasize four global environmental problems created by overpopulation: the loss of bio-diversity, acid raid, the destruction of the ozone layer and changes in the climate. "All are functions of rising population levels," he has stated, "and increasing consumption per capita." Although he has always neglected to mention that the huge consumption levels that are dangerous to the environment are among the rich; not the poor. It's not the poor of the world who burn millions of gallons of petroleum flying around on private jets. It's not the poor of the world who are burning a hole in the ozone layer. It's not the poor of the world who are bulldozing the Rain Forests to create new wealth.
Try to imagine the vastness of the earth's resources burned and consumed to support the lifestyles of any one large clan of superrich like the Kennedys or Rockefellers or Sabahs of Kuwait compared to the necessities that sustain the simple lifestyle needs of the poor villages around the world. As McNamara and his team were working on their Global 2000 plan, the World Health Organization in Geneva was sending out directives to their branches, demanding "a significant increase in the number of viral vaccines without a reduction in quality or potency." The pressure will be on in the second half of the 1990's to speed up the pace at which they rid the planet of its "useless eaters."
The Catholic Church can and will use its vast resources to fight the Global 2000 plan for mass sterilization and contraception. But not even the Catholic Church would dare blame the Olympians for the deaths of tens or hundreds of millions from "natural causes." The AIDS epidemic will only be a part of that.

The Global 2000 Committee is also counting on an epidemic of tuberculosis, which has already infected more than a billion people. The new TB strain is resistant to all known methods of treatment, and the death rate from the new tuberculosis bacilli is ten times greater than from previously known types of (67 of ) the disease. This new strain may well be part of the process designed to "speed up" the death rate. But as long as the world believes that AIDS and this new strain of TB were created by nature, those deaths can only be lamented as the tragic result of "natural causes."
How many people will allow themselves to believe the truth? How many will demand an honest answer to the question: Was the AIDS virus really created in our own Chemical and Bacteriological Warfare labs? Perhaps not enough. As Dr. John Seale said: "Doubtless most people will dismiss the suggestion that the AIDS epidemic in the United States may be the result of an act of deliberate biological warfare as worthy only of a fictional plot by Ian Fleming. But it is certainly no less plausible, scientifically, than the hypothesis currently favored by molecular biologists. It may even be true, though strange, but truth is always stranger than fiction." Dr. Seale sadly concluded: "The greatest coverup of any disease in history is in progress."
The participants in the coverup, says Dr. Seale, include the editors of medical and scientific journals who "have misled their professional colleagues about the nature and severity of the AIDS epidemic…By selective acceptance or rejection of original papers and letters, and by selecting authors to write 'safe' editorials and review articles, they have perpetuated dangerous misconceptions." But he knows what his colleagues know: "Every biological scientist who has dispassionately studied the virus and the epidemic knows that the origins of the virus could lie in the development of modern biology, just as the origins of the nuclear bomb lie with modern physics.… Most who see it keep quiet, but increasing numbers are talking privately though they still lack the moral courage to speak out in public. They still hope it is a nightmare which will vanish with tomorrow's dawn." But the nightmare won't vanish with the dawn. If we pretend it will just go away, the worst is yet to come. And, as Schopenhauer, the philosopher, said, so on until the worst of all.

Source : www.web-articles.info


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Research Suggests New Cellular Targets For HIV Drug Development

Focusing HIV drug development on immune cells called macrophages instead of traditionally targeted T cells could bring us closer to eradicating the disease, according to new research from University of Florida and five other institutions.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that in diseased cells - such as cancer cells - that are also infected with HIV, almost all the virus was packed into macrophages, whose job is to "eat" invading disease agents.

What's more, up to half of those macrophages were hybrids, formed when pieces of genetic material from several parent HIV viruses combined to form new strains. Such "recombination" is responsible for formation of mutants that easily elude immune system surveillance and escape from anti-HIV drugs.

"Macrophages are these little factories producing new hybrid particles of the virus, making the virus probably even more aggressive over time," said study co-author Marco Salemi, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine at the UF College of Medicine. "If we want to eradicate HIV we need to find a way to actually target the virus specifically infecting the macrophages."

The work was published recently in the journal PLoS ONE.

At least 1.1 million people in the United States and 33 million in the world are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The researchers set out to see if HIV populations that infect abnormal tissues are different from those that infect normal ones, and whether particular strains are associated with certain types of illness.

They tackled the question using frozen post-autopsy tissue samples, pathology results and advanced computational techniques. They analyzed 780 HIV sequences from 53 normal and abnormal tissues from seven patients who had died between 1995 and 2003 from various AIDS-related conditions, including HIV-associated dementia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and generalized infections throughout the body. Four patients had been treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy, called HAART, at or near the time of death.

The researchers compared brain and lymphoma tissues, which had heavy concentrations of macrophages, with lymphoid tissues - such as from the spleen and lymph nodes- that had a mix of HIV-infected macrophages and T cells.

The analyses revealed great diversity in the HIV strains present, with different tissues having hybrid viruses made up of slightly different sets of genes. A high frequency of such recombinant viruses was also found in tissues generally associated with disease processes, such as the meninges, spleen and lymph nodes. The researchers concluded that HIV-infected macrophages might be implicated in tumor-producing mechanisms.

The higher frequency of recombinant virus in diseased tissues likely is because macrophages multiply as a result of an inflammatory response, the researchers said.

"The study points to macrophages as a site of recombination in active disease," said neurobiologist Kenneth C. Williams, Ph.D., a Boston College associate professor and AIDS expert who was not involved in the study. "So people can say this is one spot where these viruses come from."

Source : www.medicalnewstoday.com


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Scientists develop a new HIV microbicide -- and a way to mass produce it in plants

In what could be a major pharmaceutical breakthrough, research published online in The FASEB Journal describes how scientists from St George's, University of London have devised a one-two punch to stop HIV. First the report describes a new protein that can kill the virus when used as a microbicide. Then the report shows how it might be possible to manufacture this protein in quantities large enough to make it affordable for people in developing countries.

"We desperately need to control the spread of HIV, particularly in developing countries," said Julian Ma of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at St. George's and the senior researcher involved in the work. "A vaccine is still some way off, but microbicides could provide a more immediate solution, provided we can overcome major hurdles of high efficacy, low cost, and wide availability—all of which we address in this study."

In the research paper, Ma and colleagues describe how they combined two protein microbicides (b12 monoclonal antibody and cyanovirin-N) into a single "fusion" molecule and showed that this molecule is more active against HIV than either of its individual components. They designed synthetic DNA for producing this molecule and introduced this DNA into plant cells. After regenerating transgenic plants that produce the fusion molecule, they prepared the microbicide from a plant extract made by grinding the leaves.

"This study is nothing short of a breakthrough—not only does it yield a new drug to fight the spread of HIV, but it also shows us how we can produce it on the scale necessary to get it into the hands of those who need it most," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "Unlike their unregulated counterparts in the dietary supplement industry, these scientists are using the engines of nature to manufacture pharmaceuticals that must undergo extensive safety and efficacy testing long before the first gel or cream is administered."

Source : www.labspaces.net


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New Contraceptive Ring May Prevent HIV-Aids

The next generation of birth control devices may not only prevent pregnancy without the need for hormonal compounds, but also protect a woman from becoming infected with the deadly HIV-AIDS virus.

This is great news for women who have latex allergies or those women who prefer not to use hormonal based contraceptives.

A team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College has developed a contraceptive ring that blocked transmission of the HIV virus in laboratory tests. The contraceptive ring time-released multiple antiviral drugs over a period of 28 days, which have been shown to prevent HIV infection.

The drugs used are, a new anti-HIV agent, named Boc-lysinated betulonic acid, TMC120 or dapivirine, PMPA, and 3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine or AZT/zidovudine.

Combining these particular antivirals together forms a powerful barrier to HIV infection. The researchers exposed human cells to the HIV infection in the laboratory and the antiviral drug cocktail successfully blocked the infection. The new ring device was also successfully tested on animals in a laboratory setting.

The contraceptive ring also makes use of groundbreaking methods in preventing pregnancy, without the use of hormones or spermicides. Hormones have been linked to an increased risk for breast and cervical cancer and spermicides can cause irritation.

The researchers solved these problems by using instead, compounds that arrest sperm motility, raise vaginal mucous viscosity and raise the acidity of the vagina to a level where sperm can’t survive.

Head researcher, Dr. Brij Saxena, Professor of Reproductive Biology and endocrinology at Weill Cornell Medical College, noted, “this is the first device to simultaneously offer the possibility to prevent unintended pregnancy and HIV transmission.”

With nearly 5 million people infected every year with the HIV-Aids virus, causing 3 million deaths, worldwide, this new contraceptive device can save lives by offering women another option in HIV-Aids prevention, besides abstinence and the use of latex condoms.

With additional testing, the contraceptive ring could also be used to prevent other sexually transmitted diseases.

The study is available in the recent edition of the Aids Journal.

Source : chattahbox.com


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Researchers launch new HIV/Aids drug

Researchers have launched a new drug that could help prolong the lives of people living with HIV and Aids.

The drug known as Iquilai boosts the body’s immune system and supports the natural healing process for Aids patients.

The research was conducted in Kisumu for three years by an international research body, Aids Remedy Fund (ARF) in collaboration with Ganjoni Medical Centre, a local NGO.

Lead researchers, Dr James Ombaka, executive director of Ganjoni and ARF Managing Director Leo Van Gelder told The Standard Iquilai helps to fight infections, lack of appetite, emaciation and weakness.

Restores balance

"The Iquilai is a potentised natural remedy. It has been found to be effective in the treatment of HIV and Aids since it restores the balance of minerals," said Ombaka.

Gelder explained that the mineral balancing was essential to ensure there is no lack or abundance of vital minerals in the body.

"Mineral imbalances are inter- connected with imbalances in the immune system and this helps to reduce insufficiency of the immune system, which is Aids," Gelder explained.

Restoring the balance in the mineral content goes together with the balancing of the mental and emotional state.

The remedy, the researchers disclosed, focused on returning the body to its natural state of balance.

Pilot study

They were speaking during an HIV and Aids symposium in Kisumu town, to launch the drug after conducting a pilot study that they claimed yielded positive results in Nyanza.

Study into the efficacy of the drug was set up in 2006 in western Kenya. Some 250 HIV and Aids patients were put on Iquilai.

This took place within the existing ‘home based care’ programme run by Ombaka, a dermatologist and microbiologist at the Ganjoni Hospital in Mombasa.

"The results were very promising.More than 95 per cent of the patients reacted positively," said Gelder.

The patient population comprised patients on ARV treatment and those not undergoing any ARV therapy.

Majority of the patients were in the advanced stage of Aids (stages three and four according to the WHO classification).

Source : www.eastandard.net


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India`s Strides Arcolab gets USFDA nod for HIV tablets

Indian pharmaceutical firm Strides Arcolab on Wednesday said it has received the nod from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for a dose combination of Lamivudine and Stavudine tablets used to treat adults and children who are infected with HIV.

It has received approval from the USFDA for one new drug application for a fixed dose combination of Lamivudine and Stavudine tablets, Strides Arcolab said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

This approval is yet another significant milestone in the front line of approvals for HIV medicines. This, combined with our pipeline of second line drugs will makes us a significant player in the quality, affordable multi-source anti-retro virals (ARV)s business segment, chief executive officer of the Indian operations of Strides, V S Iyer, said.

Source : www.financial24.org


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