AIDS Weekly articles from April 2002

AIDS Weekly archives from April 2002

Mechanisms of postinfection macrophage impairment identified.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Australia have identified specific steps in macrophage signaling adversely affected by HIV infection. "HIV-1 infection impairs a number of...

Transcription-mediated activation assay suitable for blood screening.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in California say that a novel assay for detecting and distinguishing between HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is suitable for use in blood...

Vaccines and low daily doses of interleukin 2 may hold key to cure.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new clinical trial testing an HIV vaccine together with low daily doses of interleukin 2 (IL2) - led by Dr. Kendall Smith, chief of immunology in the department of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical...

Complement activation helps mediate neurological damage.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Cytolytic immune activation triggered by HIV coat proteins is partially responsible for virus-induced neurologic damage, according to researchers in Austria....

Tenofovir less toxic than similar drugs.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The antiretroviral drug tenofovir is less toxic than other agents with similar methods of action, researchers in California report. "Drug-associated...

DNA vaccine can provide mucosal protection.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - DNA vaccines may represent a safer and equally effective alternative to live, attenuated HIV vaccines, researchers in the United States argue. "An...

BTG acquires new class of compounds targeted to treat advanced and chronic HIV infection.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- BTG (BGC), the global technology commercialization company, has acquired a new class of drug candidates targeted to treat advanced and chronic HIV infection. Preclinical studies have demonstrated...

Data indicate that protease inhibitor atazanavir plus saquinavir is effective, safe.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New, long-term data show that the investigational protease inhibitor, atazanavir, can be used safely and effectively with saquinavir as part of a combination regimen in HIV patients who have failed a...

Preliminary data suggests potential for once-daily dosing of Kaletra in HIV treatment-naive patients.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New data presented at a scientific meeting in Seattle demonstrated that patients taking a once-daily (QD) Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) regimen achieved similar viral suppression when compared with...

VaxGen to establish joint venture in South Korea to manufacture AIDS vaccine.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VaxGen, Inc., a U.S. biotech company, has signed an agreement to set up a joint venture with South Korean firms to manufacture an AIDS vaccine currently in clinical trials. The new company,...

Phase III trial to determine correlates of protection will not proceed.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two recent decisions will substantially contribute to a coordinated and comprehensive U.S. government effort to develop preventive HIV vaccines, according to the National Institute of Allergy and...

New data demonstrate accuracy and reliability of Trugene HIV resistance test.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Visible Genetics, Inc., (VGIN) reported that data presented at the 9th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle demonstrate that the Trugene HIV-1 Genotyping Kit is highly...

Study finds HIV/AIDS susceptible to tipranavir.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Patients with virus resistant to multiple HIV/AIDS drugs were shown to achieve and maintain viral suppression with tipranavir (TPV)-based therapy, according to data presented at the recent Conference on...

Additional data released on REMUNE from Spanish phase II trial.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Immune Response Corp. (IMNR) presented new data at the Ninth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle. The results were presented by Fernandez-Cruz, principal investigator...

Phase IIb study begins on drug to reverse side effects of opioid pain therapy.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (PGNX) has initiated a phase IIb clinical trial of its investigational drug methylnaltrexone (MNTX) for the reversal of narcotic-induced constipation, a debilitating...

Mandela endorses making key AIDS drugs available to all HIV-positive South Africans.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela suggested that AIDS drugs be made accessible to all South Africans who need them but said he did not intend to contradict government policy. Speaking...

School-based program effective in lowering teens' HIV risk.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A high school-based educational program led by teachers has longer-lasting effects in preventing risky sexual behavior than a program led by peers, according to a new study. The research also indicates...

Virus levels in men significant in spread of HIV to women.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... 2002 APR 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Higher HIV levels among men significantly increase the likelihood they will spread the virus that causes AIDS to their female sex partners, according to research conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg...

6-Oxocytosine oligonucleotides block formation of integrase-DNA complexes.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in France have shed new light on the antiviral mechanisms of a group of promising oligonucleotides (ODNs). "We recently found that...

High free fatty acid levels linked to insulin resistance.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Heightened free fatty acid (FFA) levels may underlie insulin resistance in patients with HIV lipodystrophy syndrome, researchers in the United States report....

Drug-resistant viral resevoirs remain after treatment interruption.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - HIV mutants resistant to powerful antiretroviral drugs remain in the body after treatment interruptions, researchers in Germany have found. "After the...

Interleukin-15 may be useful as adjunct therapy.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The cytokine interleukin-15 may be beneficial as a supplement to antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection, according to researchers in Italy. Dr. Gabriella...

Protein mixup tied to suppressed immune response early in HIV infection.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research that arose from a serendipitous laboratory observation could resolve a scientific mystery, the fact that some people become less able to fight HIV infection despite having a high number of...

New type of AIDS vaccine shows promise in tests.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The first preliminary human testing of a highly anticipated AIDS vaccine offers tantalizing hints it may ultimately protect against the killer virus. The study of Merck & Co.'s experimental vaccine...

Study says AIDS drugs may increase heart attack risk.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research raises the possibility that lifesaving AIDS drugs may also increase the risk of heart trouble, though experts say the medicines' benefits still far outweigh any hazard. Researchers are...

Genetic testing could identify HIV patients at risk of hypersensitivity to HIV drug.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV patients at risk of a potentially fatal hypersensitive reaction to the antiretroviral drug abacavir could be identified by genetic testing before drug therapy has started, suggest authors of a...

Tat protein alone does not protect animals.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Vaccines based solely on the HIV Tat protein may not provide sufficient protection from the virus, researchers report. "The regulatory proteins Nef, Rev,...

Phase II clinical trial of KRX-101 begins.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., (KERX) announced that it has begun initial dosing of patients in the phase II clinical trial of Keryx's investigational drug candidate KRX-101 (sulodexide) for the...

HIV protein stops cell division, leading to more virus and sicker patients.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- T cells are supposed to be one of the body's best defenses against the invading intracellular foes like viruses and some bacteria. But when they encounter HIV, some of these immune system cells become...

The origins of HIV: Did flies enable HIV to jump from chimps to humans?(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bloodsucking flies common all over the world may have begun the HIV epidemic by spreading the virus from chimpanzees to humans. That's the latest challenge to the established theory that game hunters...

Court urged to deny South African government's appeal against AIDS drug order.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- AIDS activists have urged the country's High Court to block the government from appealing a court order that requires the state to supply an anti-AIDS drug to HIV-positive pregnant women. In...

Abacavir could play important future role in treatment of children with HIV-1.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of the Paediatric European Network for Treatment of AIDS (PENTA) 5 Trial, published in the March 2, 2002, issue of the Lancet, suggest an important future role for the drug abacavir in the...

U.S. center suspends study after five patients become resistant to drug.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suspended a drug trial for patients who have both tuberculosis and advanced HIV after five patients developed resistance to the drug. ...

MIV-210 is antihepatitis B and HIV compound with unique resistance profile.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Medivir AB, Sweden presented results from an evaluation of MIV-210, an inhibitor of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HIV at the 15th International Conference on Antiviral Research held in...

Preliminary phase I data of PER.C6-derived HIV vaccine encouraging.(Brief Article)
April 8, 2002... 2002 APR 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dutch antibody and vaccine company Crucell N.V. (CRXL) said initial data from a phase I trial involving Merck & Co., Inc.'s, experimental HIV vaccine look encouraging. The HIV vaccine, based on a...