AIDS Weekly articles from March 2003

AIDS Weekly archives from March 2003

Both dendritic cell cross-presentation pathways effective.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in France have elucidated the mechanisms by which effective HIV vaccine candidates deliver their payloads to antigen-presenting cells. An...

Glycoconjugate vaccines effective in animals.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Massachusetts have identified a novel method for improving the performance of potential HIV vaccines. L.C. Paoletti and colleagues at Brigham...

Endocannabinoid system protects glioma cells against Tat-induced cytotoxicity.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The endocannabinoid system ameliorates the cytotoxic effects of the HIV Tat protein on murine brain cells, researchers in Italy say. "Cannabinoids modulate nitric oxide (NO) levels in cells of the...

Insulin-like growth factor has protective effect.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-IR) protects human neuronal cells from the in vitro effects of HIV, researchers in the United States say. HIV infection "often results in disorders of the central...

U50,488 inhibits Tat-induced brain inflammation.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) ligand may prevent HIV-induced brain damage, researchers in the United States say. KOR ligands "have been reported to alter many cell functions and to exert an...

Interleukin-15 overexpression prevents murine AIDS.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Interleukin (IL)-15 may slow or prevent AIDS progression, researchers in Japan say. "LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus (MuLV) infection causes murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS), a disease...

HIV-positive inmates frequently have unprotected sex before, after release.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Inmates infected with HIV engaged in unprotected sex both before imprisonment and after their release at "exceedingly high rates," according to a new University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill...

48-week study results presented comparing 908 to nelfinavir.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Final 48-week results from the NEAT trial, an open-label, multicenter study evaluating the safety and efficacy of the investigational protease inhibitor (PI) GW433908 (908) in antiretroviral...

Early use of atazanavir may increase susceptibility to other PIs.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) presented resistance data at the Conference on Retroviruses in Boston from several Phase II and Phase III studies of atazanavir, an investigational protease inhibitor (PI)...

Experiment shows vaccine unlikely to give total protection from disease.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The death of three monkeys that had gotten an AIDS vaccine in a Boston lab suggests that a closely watched strategy intended to blunt the deadly progression of HIV may not provide total protection from...

Global Phase III clinical trials launched for non-peptidic protease inhibitor.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Boehringer Ingelheim announced the launch of the Phase III RESIST clinical trial program designed to further study the efficacy and safety of tipranavir for use in combination therapy for HIV-1...

Many promising new drugs on the horizon.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A variety of highly effective new AIDS drugs are on the horizon, experts say, easing worries that the fast-mutating virus will outstrip doctors' ability to treat it. Ever since combinations of AIDS...

New antiretroviral drugs to expand HIV/AIDS therapies market potential.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- While antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in existing categories continue to be the mainstay of the HIV/AIDS therapies market in the United States, the development of new drugs in both existing and novel...

Phase III data on ritonavir as therapy in PI-experienced patients "encouraging".
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- At the 10th Conference on Retroviruses in Boston, preliminary 24-week data were presented from the CONTEXT trial, an open-label, multicenter study evaluating the safety and efficacy of once-a-day (QD)...

Researchers test HIV/AIDS vaccine in Uganda.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ugandan researchers have begun testing an AIDS vaccine specifically designed for a strain of the disease common in East Africa, the lead researcher says. Dr. Ponsiano Kaleebu said his team at the...

Resistance data on mutation patterns can help predict future options.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The results from a longitudinal study of the relative frequency of various types of HIV mutations associated with the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) were presented recently at a meeting of leading...

AIDS researcher wins Veterans Affairs' Middleton Award.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dr. Douglas D. Richman, a virologist at the San Diego, California, Health Care System of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), whose research on HIV and AIDS has helped guide treatment for millions...

Gene discovered by Temple researchers found to be multifunctional.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A gene discovered by Temple University researchers a decade ago has proved to be multifunctional, with the discovery of its important roles in cell differentiation, HIV transcription, and tumorigenesis....

FDA accepts automated HIV-1 viral load test application for review.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. (RMS) announced that its supplement to the Amplicor HIV-1 Test, version 1.5, has been accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This...

Multiple herpesvirus infections have limited effect on progression rate.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "The effects of herpesviruses infection on the progression of HIV disease remain controversial, with some studies showing accelerated progression and others showing no effect," according to recent...

Cytomegalovirus infection may have protective effect.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cytomegalovirus infection may protect against HIV-induced neurological damage, researchers in France say. "Within the brain, glial cells are target cells for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and HIV,"...

Novel HIV-1 integrase model may aid therapy research.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University of California at San Diego have developed "a model structure of a candidate tetramer for HIV-1 integrase." "The model was built in three steps using data from...

Gag protein assembly in infected cells elucidated.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in the United Kingdom have provided new insight into the course of Gag protein assembly in HIV-infected cells. "Recent biochemical studies have identified high molecular complexes of...

Type I interferon producing cells play key role during infection.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Natural type I interferon producing cells (IPCs) are in the first line of defense against infectious pathogens," according to a recent study from France. "Besides the known properties of type I...

Viral protease has cytotoxic effects.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV protease (HIV-1 PR) enzyme has cytotoxic effects, researchers in Spain report. HIV-1 PR "was expressed both in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in mammalian cells" in a study conducted...

AIDS testing project opens in East Baltimore.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Free HIV/AIDs testing began in February 2003 at an east Baltimore men's center as part of the region's first anti-AIDS partnership among a medical center, businesses, and the community, officials said....

Diverse repertoire of HIV-specific helper T cell clones seen after HAART.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "HIV-1 Ag-specific CD4+ T cell proliferative responses in human subjects with advanced, untreated HIV-1 disease are often weak or undetectable," according to recent research from the United States. ...

Glucocorticoid treatment needed for patients with adrenal insufficiency.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "In human immunodeficiency virus infected individuals, human cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains a significant pathogen," according to a recent study from New York University. "The adrenal gland is a...

Novel agents derived from Litsea verticillata.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University of Illinois have derived potential anti-HIV agents from a Chinese medicinal plant. "Bioassay directed-fractionation led to the identification of litseaverticillols A-H...

Novel antiretroviral agent derived from Vicia faba seeds.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have identified a novel antifungal and anti-HIV agent derived from a bean plant. "A new trypsin-chymotrypsin inhibitor, with an N-terminal...

Protein-disulfide isomerase inhibitors block HIV cell entry.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Boston University have described a novel class of HIV cell entry inhibitors. A. Gallina and coauthors "previously reported that monoclonal antibodies to protein-disulfide isomerase...

Psychotherapy for pain may not be feasible.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "The feasibility and acceptability of cognitive behavior therapy for HIV-related peripheral neuropathic pain was examined" in a recent study from Cornell University. "The potential efficacy of the...

Viral escape mutations seen after antiretroviral treatment suspension in macaques.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Structured treatment interruption (STI) of antiretroviral drugs has been proposed as an alternative approach for managing patients infected with HIV-1," according to a recent study from the United...

Apoptotic, infected cells effective in animals.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Sweden have identified a novel and effective method for inducing HIV-specific immune activity. Antigen (Ag)-presenting dendritic cells...

Dendritic cells loaded with viral antigens show promise.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States have developed a novel and promising technique for immunization against HIV infection. M.A. Marovich and colleagues at the...

HIV-2 genetic library vaccines ineffective in animals.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - An HIV vaccine containing a "library" of viral antigens has shown disappointing results in animal experiments, researchers in the United States report. ...

IL-2 increases CD4+ numbers but does not enhance responses to immunization.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from the United States, "To ascertain whether CD4+ lymphocyte increases induced by interleukin (IL)-2 enhanced in vivo immune responses, 38 human immunodeficiency virus...

Researchers design CD4 mimic that inhibits HIV-1 entry.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "The conserved surfaces of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 envelope involved in receptor binding represent potential targets for the development of entry inhibitors and neutralizing antibodies....

Therapeutic dendritic-cell vaccine effective against simian AIDS.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "An effective immune response against human immunodeficiency virus or simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is critical in achieving control of viral replication. Here, we show in SIV-infected rhesus...

Travelers spread HIV-1 genetic variants.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "HIV-1 comprises three groups, the main (M group), 0 (outlier) and N (non-M, non-O). The M group, divided into 11 subtypes, is responsible for the global HIV-1 pandemic. Recombination between M...

Whole HIV-1 protein in liposomes prime CD8+ cells.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Proteins may serve as ideal CD8+ T cell immunogens for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) if they can be delivered to and processed through the human leukocyte antigen class I pathway,"...

Prices of AIDS drugs in Central America cut more than half.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Negotiations carried out by the governments of Central America with five pharmaceutical companies have led to a historic reduction in the prices of antiretrovirals, the drugs used against HIV/AIDS. The...

Researchers discover how virus spreads through the body.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers from Imperial College London, University of Oxford, Kagoshima University (Japan), and University of the Ryukyus (Japan) have discovered the mechanism by which human T-lymphotropic virus type...

Clinical trial of P. carinii pneumonia treatment completes enrollment.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immtech International, Inc. (Bulletin Board: IMMT) announced that the Phase IIa pilot human clinical trial using the oral drug candidate DB 289 for the treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia has...

IL-10 modulates Pneumocystis carinii-induced lung damage.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Host responses to Pneumocystis carinii infection mediate impairment of pulmonary function and contribute to the pathogenesis of pneumonia," according to a recent study from the University of Kentucky....

Interorgan differences seen in cytokine response to Penicillium marneffei.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Penicillium marneffei is an intracellullar opportunistic fungus causing invasive mycosis in AIDS patients," according to a recent study from the University of Milan. "T cells and macrophages are...

Enhanced role of healthcare providers needed in national effort to fight HIV.
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Citing new data on risk behavior, HIV testing, and HIV diagnoses in the United States, Ronald O. Valdiserri, MD, MPH, deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)...

University of Miami receives $2.5 million grant for children and families.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... 2003 MAR 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The University of Miami's medical school has received a $2.5 million grant to support AIDS, HIV, and tuberculosis research, education, and treatment in South Florida, Haiti, and elsewhere. Steven...

Recombinant HIV vector effective.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Recombinant HIV vectors can be used to deliver highly effective antiretroviral gene therapy, according to researchers in Japan. Koichi Miyake and...

Cross-reactive antibodies induced via alphavirus vector.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States and China have developed an HIV vaccine candidate capable of eliciting cross-reactive humoral responses to the virus. ...

HIV drugs not causing rise in vascular disease.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Amid concern over the impact of potent HIV drugs on patients' cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, a study of 36,766 patients treated for HIV in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system from...

Targeting DNA gives powerful cancer drug extra boost in shrinking tumors.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research suggests that combining the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel with very low doses of the HIV-fighting drug AZT may shrink or even eradicate certain types of cancer tumors. Using both drugs...

Novel simian model provides insight into pathogenesis.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel simian model has provided new insight into the pathogenesis of HIV-associated dementia. "Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has reduced the incidence of dementia, a...

Atazanavir effective with low lipodystrophy risk.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV protease inhibitor (PI) atazanavir is effective and carries a low risk of PI-associated lipodystrophy. In a recent study from South Africa, three atazanavir regimens "(200, 400, and 500 mg...

Lancet welcomes U.S. funding of new AIDS program.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Lancet editorial welcomes the recent announcement from the U.S. government to provide $15 billion over the next 5 years to tackle HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. Three main aspects make up...

White House hopes to restrict AIDS money for foreign family planning groups.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- By restricting the use of federal AIDS-fighting money by organizations that promote or perform abortions overseas, President Bush is trying to balance his firm antiabortion policies with his new...

Risk of AIDS and death still falling for people with HIV.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Seven years into the modern era of AIDS treatment, the outlook for people with HIV infections continues to improve. Encouraging new European data show that the risk of developing full-blown AIDS...

Faster HIV test may curtail the spread of AIDS.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In January 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved new rapid blood-testing technology for HIV. The simplified test no longer requires laboratory analysis, enabling clinic staff to deliver...

Preliminary data from CONTEXT trial presented.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Preliminary 24-week data were presented from the CONTEXT trial, an open-label, multicenter study evaluating the safety and efficacy of once-a-day (QD) or twice-a-day (BID) dosing of the investigational...

Phase I trials for genetic treatment initiated.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VIRxSYS Corp. will initiate Phase I clinical trials for the genetic treatment of HIV/AIDS. The trials will involve the first-ever use of a lentiviral vector in humans, called VRX496, whereby HIV is...

Study demonstrates comparable antiviral efficacy of HIV drugs.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of the 2NN study show no statistical difference between Viramune (nevirapine, Boehringer Ingelheim) and efavirenz (Sustiva, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.) in anti-HIV efficacy with respect to viral...

Changes in prevalence of mutations associated with HIV treatment failure.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The results from a longitudinal study of the relative frequency of various types of HIV mutations associated with the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) were presented at a recent meeting of leading...

Emory researchers identify link between lipid abnormalities and AIDS therapy.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers from Emory University and the Atlanta Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center have used a lipid biomarker called apolipoprotein C-III (ApoC-III) to help establish the relationship between HIV...

Safe-sex education makes no difference in Ugandan HIV intervention trial.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results of a new study show how interventions to promote safer sex and the control of sexually transmitted diseases did not reduce the incidence of HIV infection in an area of rural Uganda. ...

Unsafe healthcare bigger culprit than unsafe sex in African AIDS.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Since the 1980s most experts have assumed that heterosexual sex transmitted 90% of HIV in Africa. But now an international team of HIV specialists presents groundbreaking evidence to challenge this...

Nerve growth factor pathway used in Tat-induced neurodegeneration.( )
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The nerve growth factor pathway helps mediate neurodegeneration caused by the HIV Tat protein. According to a study from the United States, HIV "enters the brain at the early stage of infection...

250,000 orders received from China for Rapid HIV Tests.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- MedMira, Inc., (MIR) announced that it has received an order for 250,000 Rapid HIV Tests from one of its distributors in the People's Republic of China. Upon the approval of MedMira's Rapid HIV...

Novel molecular assay useful for screening at-risk infants.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel molecular assay is useful for screening infants at risk of vertical HIV infection. "A nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) assay that detects HIV RNA may be helpful in...

Two-stage "sensitive/less-sensitive" test strategy improves efficiency.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A two-stage "sensitive/less-sensitive" strategy improves the efficiency of HIV testing. According to recent research from the United States, "current serologic techniques for the classification of...

Low CD4 cell counts increase risk.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Low CD4 cell counts increase the risk of lipodystrophy in HIV patients. "To identify clinical factors associated with the incidence of HIV-1-associated lipoatrophy, HIV-1-infected patients in the...

Aggressive macrophage response could be treatment basis.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The aggressive macrophage response to HIV infection could be the basis for a treatment or vaccine. During HIV infection, "T lymphocytes and macrophages play dual roles," according to a recent...

CD1d-restricted natural killer T cells are viral targets.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CD1d-restricted natural killer T (NKT) cells are targeted by HIV during infection. According to a recent study from the United States, invariant NKT cells "express a restricted T-cell receptor...

Gammadelta T cells cytotoxic to healthy T cells during infection.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gammadelta T cells become cytotoxic to healthy T cells during HIV infection. HIV disease progression in humans "is marked by declining CD4+ T-cell counts and increasing virus load (VL)," explained...

Macrophage CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins regulate viral gene expression.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Macrophage CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs) regulate HIV gene expression in infected cells. C/EBPs "are transcription factors that regulate a variety of cellular genes involved in broad...

Wee-1 kinase depletion needed for Vpr-induced apoptosis.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Wee-1 kinase depletion is needed for apoptosis triggered by the HIV Vpr protein. HIV Vpr "induces G[subscript]2 arrest, and prolonged G[subscript]2 arrest leads to apoptosis," explained researchers...

Molecular and cellular TCR Vbeta repertoire tests yield discrepant results.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Molecular and cellular techniques for analyzing T-cell receptor (TCR) Vbeta repertoir yield discrepant results in pediatric HIV patients. In a recent study from New York University, TCR Vbeta...

Gag region needed for viral replication identified.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A region in the HIV Gag protein have been shown to play a key role in viral replication. Crystal structures of HIV "capsid protein (CA) reveal that the last 11 C-terminal amino acids are...

48-Week resistance data presented.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Forty-eight week data were presented from two phase III studies (NEAT and SOLO) of treatment-naive patients with HIV infection, evaluating the resistance profile of the investigational protease...

Antiretroviral treatment prevents mortality in older patients.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antiretroviral therapy significantly lowers the mortality risk in older HIV patients. Although patients "aged greater than or equal to 50 years have a blunted CD4 cell recovery when receiving...

Atazanavir may lead to increased viral susceptibility to other PIs.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) presented resistance data at a medical meeting in Boston from several phase II and phase III studies of atazanavir, an investigational protease inhibitor (PI) under...

Liquid chromatography test measures levels of nine antiretroviral agents.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel liquid chromatography screen can be used to simultaneously measure plasma levels of nine different antiretroviral agents. "A rapid, sensitive and specific high-performance liquid...

Novel assay enables sensitive saquinavir measurement.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay enables highly sensitive measurement of saquinavir levels in HIV patients. "A selective and sensitive method for the determination of...

Peptides trap HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein fusion intermediate at two sites.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Peptides trap the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein fusion intermediate at two sites. According to recent research from the United States, "Human immunodeficiency virus...

TNF-alpha gene mutation linked to rapid lipodystrophy onset.
March 10, 2003... 2003 MAR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha gene mutation is linked to the rapid onset of treatment-related lipodystrophy in HIV patients. According to recent research from Australia, "the effect of TNF...