AIDS Weekly articles from February 2001

AIDS Weekly archives from February 2001

Sera Pooling Preserves Accuracy with Substantial Cost Reduction.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Combining serum samples into "pools" for HIV testing preserves the accuracy of traditional screening techniques at a cost that is feasible for health care...

Flu Vaccine Safe for HIV Patients.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Influenza vaccination has no measurable short- or long-term adverse effects for patients infected with HIV, study results show. P.S. Sullivan and colleagues...

Gp160 Protein Palmitoylation Necessary for HIV Infection.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Palmitoylation at the HIV-1 viral envelope is a crucial part of the process of HIV infection, presenting a potentially novel therapeutic target. "Recent...

Once-Daily Dosing Regimen Possible.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Researchers in Spain have shown that effective once-a-day dosing regimens are possible for antiretroviral drugs, a finding which may help health care workers...

HIV-1 Nef Protein Induces Shift from Macrophage-Tropic to T-Cell-Tropic Infection.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- HIV-1 Nef protein, by inducing resistance to macrophage-tropic HIV infection in monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs), triggers the shift to T-cell-tropic...

HAART More Effective When Initiated During Acute HIV Infection.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Highly active antiretroviral therapy is most effective at restoring immune function when initiated during the earliest stages of HIV infection, according to...

Older HIV Patients Less Likely to Realize Long-Term Benefit.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- The age of HIV patients treated with antiretroviral drugs and protease inhibitors apparently impacts the extent of immune system restitution they can derive from...

Severe Hyperlactatemia a Potentially Fatal Side Effect.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- A small but significant proportion of HIV positive patients treated with antiretroviral therapy will develop life-threatening hyperlactatemia, which may be...

AIDS Expert Warns Threshold Set Too High.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) - The current objective of most HIV vaccines - the absence of any infection of a human by HIV - is at the present time not possible, according to a pioneer HIV/AIDS researcher at the University of...

Tuberculosis Immunity May Not be Fully Restored After HAART.
February 5, 2001... 2001 FEB 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Researchers writing in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes have presented evidence showing that even apparently successful highly active...

Tucaresol Can Stimulate Beneficial Immune Function.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Immunologists in Italy have shown that the compound tucaresol can effectively mobilize the body's immune system, making it a potential weapon in the...

Soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule Can Be Useful Prognostic Tool for Pediatricians.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- High levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in HIV infected children are portents of disease progression, according to immunologists in...

HIV Case Rates in the U.K. Reported for 2000.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Data published by the U.K.'s Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) on January 25, 2001, indicate that so far, 2,868 new HIV diagnoses have been reported for the year 2000. This number is set...

Women in Thailand at High Risk.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Women living in Thailand are at high risk for HIV infection, even those who are in stable and apparently monogamous relationships, AIDS researchers in...

Syndrome May be Provoked by Inflammatory Stimulus.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Although HIV related lipodystrophy has symptoms similar to those of type 2 diabetes, the pathological mechanisms of the disorders are markedly different,...

Alitretinoin Gel Effective for Treating Lesions.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- A topical gel containing alitretinoin can safely and effectively treat lesions caused by AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma, according to dermatologists in...

AIDS Now Core Issue at United Nations Security Council.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The fourth meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the issue of HIV/AIDS in a year signals that the epidemic's threat to peace and security is as real as ever. "The simple fact that...

African HIV Patients Have Increased Prevalence of Salivary Disorders.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- African AIDS patients suffer from salivary complications from the disease at a much higher rate than their Western counterparts, researchers in the...

Gag Ubiquitination Not Necessary for HIV Replication.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Virologists in the United States have shown that the ubiquitin binding of the HIV Gag protein is not necessary for HIV replication or infection, at least...

Chemokines and Their Receptors May Enable Mother to Child Infection.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunologists in Japan believe they may have found a chemokine route through which HIV can be transmitted from mother to unborn child. "Chemokine receptors of placental trophoblasts possibly...

Crucial Regions of HIV Primer Binding Sites Found.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Microbiologists have found parts of the HIV "primer" critical for replication, a finding that could lead to novel treatments for the disease. "Human...

Pertussis Toxin Binding Subunit Blocks HIV Replication.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- The toxin responsible for whooping cough in children may soon be pressed into service as a potent inhibitor of HIV replication, researchers report. ...

Molecules Inhibit HIV Protease.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have identified a molecule with the ability to inhibit a key enzyme of HIV, which could limit the spread of the virus. Known as polyoxometalate, or POM, the molecule stopped HIV...

Study Shows HIV Can Mutate to Attack Human Protective Cells.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study conducted by researchers with the Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, suggests that in the advanced stages of HIV, the virus can change its structure in an affected person to a form that...

Protease Inhibitor-Induced Hyperlipidemia Caused by Increased Production.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2001... 2001 FEB 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Biologists in the United States have presented evidence implicating the liver in the excessive lipid levels induced by commonly used treatments for HIV...

Guidelines Updated for Adults and Adolescents.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An updated version of the Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV Infected Adults and Adolescents, which includes revised recommendations for when to initiate anti-HIV therapy, was...

Monoclonal Antibodies May Effectively Inhibit HIV.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Researchers in New York have shown that monoclonal antibodies targeting the crucial CCR5 co-receptor can potently and selectively block HIV infection, to...

HIV Mutants Show Resistance to Antiretroviral Treatment.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Virologists in The Netherlands warn that new HIV mutants refractory to treatment with nucleoside analogs may threaten the future effectiveness of such...

Once-Daily Protease Inhibitor Shows Fewer Side Effects.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A protease inhibitor has been shown to be safe, tolerable, and effective in HIV positive patients with only one dose a day. The drug, known as BMS-232632, differs from previous protease...

Gag/Gag-Pol Ratio Crucial for Viral Infectivity.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Variations in the relative expression levels of the HIV-1 protein Gag and its precursor, Gag-Pol, can dramatically affect the levels of viral stability and...

Data Presented on Substitution of Efavirenz for Protease Inhibitor.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Data presented at the 8th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Chicago, Illinois, indicate that patients who substituted DuPont Pharmaceuticals' anti-HIV drug Sustiva...

HIV Population Shifts Following Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- By following the relative prevalence of R5 and X4 viruses in a set of women with advanced disease, researchers now show that R5 viruses can re-emerge as the predominant HIV-1 population following...

Nevirapine Can Be Safe, Effective for Salvage Treatment.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- The reverse transcriptase inhibitor nevirapine can be safely and effectively used as a salvage therapy for HIV patients who have shown resistance to other...

Survey Indicates Physicians' Preference for Single Protease Inhibitor.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a new survey assessing physicians' experience with HIV resistance, 71% of physicians who initiate therapy with a protease inhibitor (PI) chose a single PI over a dual PI, reserving use of dual...

Peptide's Protective Mechanism Against HIV Revealed.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Biochemists in France have elucidated the mechanisms by which the peptide SPC3 is able to protect against cellular invasion by some HIV strains. "SPC3...

Testing Pregnant Women is Cost-Effective.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Researchers in California believe that efforts to increase voluntary HIV screening of pregnant women both before and after delivery are cost-effective ways...

HIV Patients Display Reduced Vascular Reactivity.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- In addition to other vascular morbidities, HIV infected patients are resistant to increased blood flow following physiological hyperemia triggers,...

(beta)-Chemokines Appear to Inhibit Bone Marrow Infection.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Hematologists in Pennsylvania investigating how bone marrow cells fight HIV infection, have found that (beta)-chemokines appear to be pivotal in...

Symptoms Differ in HIV Patients.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Patients suffering from both HIV infection and tuberculous meningitis have markedly different symptom profiles than HIV negative tuberculous meningitis...

Model Allows Evaluation of Nef Protein.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Using a novel HIV protein research model, virologists have shed new light on the molecular activity of the HIV-1 Nef protein. "The Nef protein of the...

Protein Plays Dual Role in Apoptosis Responses.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- The HIV-1 vpr protein can either be used to induce or resist apoptosis in different kinds of cells, depending on conditions and requirements for virus...

T Lymphocytes Have Little Effect on Infection.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Non-functioning cytotoxic T lymphocytes have little if any impact on the course of HIV infection, study results indicate. "The highly sensitive...

Inner City HIV Patients Do Not Receive Specialized Care.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Significant advances in antiretroviral therapy are helping thousands of HIV patients keep the virus at bay, allowing them to live nearly normal lives and avoid progressing to advanced AIDS. In...

One in Five Patients Denied Urgent Access to Sexual Health Clinics.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- One in five patients with acute symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection is unlikely to be seen at a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic within the recommended 48 hours in Great Britain,...

Parental Exposure, HIV, Keep Viral Persistence High in Italy.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2001... 2001 FEB 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- TT virus persistence continues to remain high in Italy, particularly in individuals with parental exposure and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)...