AIDS Vaccine Week articles from July 2003

AIDS Vaccine Week archives from July 2003

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-based strategies ineffective over long term.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - HIV vaccine strategies based on inducing antiviral cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses may not be effective over the long term, researchers in the United...

DNA vaccine and microparticle boost produce potent anti-HIV immune response.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Broad and potent anti-human immunodeficiency virus immune responses were obtained in rhesus macaques by priming with a DNA vaccine and boosting with protein-adsorbed polylactide coglycolide...

Immunodominant epitopes found in tat-vaccinated volunteers.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunodominant epitopes have been identified in inactivated tat-vaccinated healthy and HIV-1-infected volunteers. According to a study from Italy and France, "We analyzed the epitopes and the...

Murine cytomegalovirus vector shows promise.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) vectors could be the basis for an effective HIV vaccine, researchers say. "Dendritic cells (DC) are potent antigen-presenting...

Adjuvants interleukin-12 and cholera toxin enhance immunity to HIV-1.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Interleukin-12 and cholera toxin subunit B act as adjuvants to enhance mucosal and systemic immunity to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 glycoproteins. According to recent research published in...

UN groups strengthen response to HIV/AIDS in the Americas.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- United Nations leaders in health and development, citing their deep concern about the "relentless growth" of HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean, on June 11, 2003, committed to join and expand...

People in rural areas less likely to use CAM for pain, HIV patients more likely.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to results of an eastern Michigan survey, while urban, suburban, and rural residents report having equally severe pain, suburban and urban dwellers were more likely than rural residents to use...

Drinking while on medication may speed up HIV's advance.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV infection may progress faster in patients who drink moderate-to-high amounts of alcohol while taking antiretroviral medications, according to new research. Patients who drank while taking the...

Organization helps fund fight against AIDS, TB, and malaria in Kenya.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Government of Kenya and the Global Fund have signed an agreement for grants worth US $52 million to battle AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, Global Fund reported on June 18, 2003. The three...

Antiretroviral treatment helps resolve lymphoid interstitial pneumonia.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antiretroviral treatment helps resolve lymphoid interstitial pneumonia (LIP). "To analyze the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy" on LIP, scientists in France "reviewed the medical...

Lopinavir has paradoxical effects on P-glycoprotein expression.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV protease inhibitor lopinavir has paradoxical effects on P-glycoprotein expression. In a study from the United States, "the effect of lopinavir on P-glycoprotein-mediated rhodamine 123...

New genetic pathway of HIV resistance to stavudine found.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have discovered a novel genetic pathway of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 resistance to stavudine, which is mediated by the K65R mutation. "Stavudine (d4T) and zidovudine (AZT) are...

Medication reminders marketed to HIV/AIDS treatment providers.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ALR Technologies, Inc., (ALRT) has begun an aggressive marketing campaign for its products to clinics and other providers of treatment to HIV/AIDS patients. It is sending a packet containing a...

Lack of STD awareness challenges growth of diagnostic market.
July 7, 2003... 2003 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Growth of diagnostic markets are directly dependent on an increasing awareness of the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), which in turn spur the demand for routine screening facilities....

Listeria HIV gag immunization induces antigen-specific T cell response.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunization with recombinant Listeria monocytogenes HIV gag induced HIV gag-specific CD8+ T cells in the spleen and gut-associated lymphoid tissue. According to recent research published in the...

Kunjin virus vectors show promise.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Kunjin virus vectors could be the basis for an effective HIV vaccine, researchers in Australia report. "We have previously demonstrated the ability of the...

Autologous virus-based reagents needed for accurate measure of T-cell responses.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Reagents based on autologous HIV strain sequences are needed for accurate measurements of antiviral T-cell activity, researchers write in the Journal of...

Efficacy results of the current generation of AIDS vaccines due this year.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Strategies for AIDS vaccines now undergoing clinical testing involve the optimization of antibody and cellular immune responses, according to a...

Subunit protein vaccines evaluated for HIV-1 treatment.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A review of subunit protein vaccines for HIV-1 treatment has been published recently. "With the spread of AIDS still rampant in many parts of the world, there is a global urgency to develop a...

Phase II trial with PRO 2000 to prevent HIV transmission begins in Africa.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (IDEV) announced the initiation of a phase II clinical trial in Africa assessing the safety of PRO 2000, a topically administered, vaginal microbicide designed to prevent...

Medical services completes testing of its VScan HIV Rapid Test Kit in Congo.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical Services International, Inc., (MSITF) has completed all additional testing necessary for regulatory approval in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly the Congo and Zaire). The...

Australian research on immune system rejuvenation leads to international trials.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Norwood Abbey, Ltd., (NAL) announced that Australian research on rejuvenating the immune system, which could significantly help HIV/AIDS patients, has been seized upon by a team of international...

Immune system genetics determine HIV progression to AIDS.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genes underlying HIV infected patients' immune systems can predict their risk of progressing to AIDS, a new study shows. The finding represents the first application of a novel statistical...

Researchers warn that AIDS in India could become as dire as in Africa.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The epidemic of HIV/AIDS in India is following the same pattern as that of sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s, and it could become just as devastating unless preventive action is taken now. This is...

First human Phase I clinical trials approved in South Africa.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- South Africa's Medicines Control Council (MCC) has approved a Phase I clinical trial in humans of an HIV vaccine, Pretoria's BuaNews reported. "This is the first HIV vaccine trial to be approved in...

Interleukin-15 can enhance virus-specific immunity in children.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Interleukin-15 can enhance anti-HIV cellular immunity in children. "Cellular immune responses play a central role in controlling HIV-1 infection," researchers in the United States explained. ...

Extremely low viral RNA levels present in exposed seronegative individuals.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Extremely low HIV RNA levels are present in highly exposed but seronegative patients. "Some individuals remain inexplicably seronegative and lack evidence for human immunodeficiency virus type 1...

Past, present, and future perspectives of pediatric HIV vaccines reviewed.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The past trials, present plans, and future perspectives of HIV vaccines in infants and children have been summarized in a recent issue of Current Molecular Medicine. According to a study from the...

GB virus genotype may influence protective effects.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GB virus genotype may influence the protective effects of co-infection in HIV patients. "Several recent studies have indicated that patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) exhibit...

First pediatric HIV/AIDS center to open in Botswana.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A unique partnership between a government, a corporation, and an academic institution has led to the opening of the first center in Africa focused exclusively on caring for children with pediatric...

Wrangle delays $91 million package to fight HIV/AIDS in Cote d'Ivoire.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has delayed the disbursement of a US$91 million grant to Cote d'Ivoire because of a dispute between government departments in Abidjan over...

African AIDS Vaccine Program workshop focused on trial sites.
July 14, 2003... 2003 JUL 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The theme of the second forum of the African AIDS Vaccine Program (AAVP) workshop, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 2003, was "Strategies for the Development of HIV Vaccine Trial Sites in Africa:...

Mucosal immunity plays key role in prevention of HIV transmission.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mucosal immunity plays a key role in the prevention of HIV transmission and should be more a focus for vaccine targeting, according to a study in Current Molecular Medicine. "Vaccines designed to...

Dendritic cells may as conduit to improve HIV vaccines.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dendritic cells may find use as conduits to improve HIV vaccines. According to published research from the United States, "Many potential HIV vaccine strategies are being explored in both animal...

Alloimmune sera neutralizes virus through hindrance-mediated anti-HLA effect.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Alloimmune sera" neutralizes HIV through steric hindrance-mediated suppression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) activity. A group of researchers in Austria had previously found that alloimmune...

Patent filed for second major product in its development pipeline.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Microbix Biosystems, Inc., (TSX) announced filing of a patent for a new proprietary vaccine technology platform that it says has the potential to offer significant economic advantages to vaccine...

Changes in virion internal proteins affect site of lentivirus inactivation.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Preferential covalent modification of virion internal proteins affected the sites, mechanism of action, and lack of reversibility of primate lentivirus inactivation. "By exploiting the intrinsic...

Cytokines and chemokines enhance efficacy of HIV vaccines.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cytokine, chemokine, and costimulatory molecule modulation can enhance the efficacy of HIV vaccines. According to recent research from the United States, "Understanding key intervention points in...

Live recombinant vectors used for AIDS vaccine development.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Live recombinant vectors are being used for AIDS vaccine development. According to published research from the United States, "Live recombinant vectors entered the AIDS vaccine field with the...

Menstrual cycle affects mucosal immunity to SHIV in baboons.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The menstrual cycle affects mucosal immunity to the simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) within the reproductive tract of baboons (Papio anubis). According to recent research from Kenya, "The...

Need exists to define the protective antibody response for HIV-1.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A need exists to define the protective antibody response for HIV-1, so effective vaccines can be developed. "The development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine would be greatly facilitated by knowledge...

Phase Ib/IIa trial of new HIV vaccine planned.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (AVRX) announced that it has initiated manufacturing of peptides that comprise its therapeutic vaccine for HIV, known as EradicAide, in order to prepare pharmaceutical...

Hepatitis C infection common in Thailand vaccine volunteers.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Hepatitis C coinfection is common in male HIV patients who volunteer for vaccine research in Thailand, researchers there report. Robert Paris and...

Viral Tat can kill bystander cells through monocyte TRAIL production.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The HIV Tat protein can kill healthy cells through the induction of TRAIL secretion by infected monocytes. HIV Tat "has a critical role in viral transcription," explained researchers in the United...

Novel antisense oligonucleotides disrupt TAR activity.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A pair of novel antisense oligonucleotides disrupt the activity of the HIV transactivation response element (TAR). In a study from the United States, scientists examined "an antisense...

Novel glycosaminoglycans agents have paradoxical effects on viral replication.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A series of novel glycosaminoglycans agents have paradoxical effects on the replication of different HIV strains. "In the search for new drugs against human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1),"...

Phage chemokine selection reveals novel antiretroviral agents.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A phage chemokine selection procedure has been used to identify several novel anti-HIV agents. "The chemokine receptors CCR5 and CXCR4 are promising non-virus-encoded targets for human...

DNA priming improves HSV-1 amplicon-induced T-cell responses.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - DNA priming enhances the performance of an HIV vaccine based on herpes simplex virus particles, researchers in the United States say. "A single...

Unusual antibody targets HIV.
July 21, 2003... 2003 JUL 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A group of scientists from the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and several other institutions has solved the structure of an antibody that effectively neutralizes HIV. The antibody binds to...

Chimeric influenza HA/SHIV virus-like particles show promise for mucosal immunization.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Texas have developed a novel technique for mucosal immunization against HIV infection. "To enhance mucosal immune responses using...

Gag and Pol antigens are important for effectiveness of AIDS vaccines.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gag and Pol antigens are important for creating effective AIDS vaccines, according to a report in the Journal of Virology. "Control of the worldwide AIDS pandemic may require not only preventive...

International HIV vaccine trial under way in Africa and the United States.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- St. Louis University is leading an international vaccine trial to study a promising HIV prevention vaccine in humans. The trial is being conducted through the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) of the...

AIDS vaccination strategy induces significant cellular immune responses.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Mice primed with influenza virus Env followed by immunization with vaccinia virus (VV) expressing HIV-1 Env B stimulated a strong protective cellular...

Subtype B and E gp120-based vaccines safe and effective for Thai recipients.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A pair of novel HIV vaccines have shown promise in a study involving healthy Thai adults. Punnee Pitisuttithum and colleagues at Mahidol University in...

Kenya NGOs see stiff competition for HIV/AIDS money.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- About 235 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are in the running for US$26 million to be made available for HIV/AIDS projects from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB. The proposals...

amfAR awards $1.5 million for basic research into HIV/AIDS.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) announced nearly $1.5 million in basic research grants and fellowships for scientists working to understand and eliminate HIV/AIDS. "amfAR is...

Fearing extinction, Botswana launches all-out assault on AIDS.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Daylight had not yet broken and the sandy courtyard of the family home was packed with mourners. Many had been there all night, warming hands by a crackling wood fire and drifting from hymn to...

Medical Services begins to fill contracts for VScan HIV Test Kits.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical Services International, Inc., (MSITF) announced that during June 2003 it shipped 17,000 test kits at an average price of $3.37 per kit. Based on contracts and existing orders the company...

HIV inactivates the body's cellular smart bomb.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HIV eludes one of the body's key smart bomb defenses against infection, and this finding may lay the groundwork for new drugs to treat AIDS, according to a new Salk Institute study. Nathaniel...

VaxGen to complete phase III trial in Thailand.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VaxGen, Inc., (VXGN) has issued a response to several newspaper articles that inaccurately stated that the company was planning to withdraw from its phase III trial in Thailand. According to the...

Tat-associated kinase may play role.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tat-associated kinase (P-TEFb) may play a role in maintaining latent HIV infection. "Like other HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus type 1) proteins, Tat undergoes rapid mutation and occurs in...

C-terminal octylation improves T20 efficacy.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- C-terminal octylation improves the antiretroviral efficacy of T20. This agent, "a synthetic peptide corresponding to a C-terminal segment of the envelope glycoprotein (gp41) of human and simian...

Novel agents active against NNRTI-resistant viruses.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A series of novel antiretroviral agents are active against HIV strains resistant to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). "The potent anti-HIV-1 activities of L-737,126 (2) and...

Novel inhibitory antibodies isolated.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A series of novel anti-HIV antibodies have been identified. "Inhibitory antibodies to the reverse transcriptase (RT) of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) can be used to block the life...

Novel liquid chromatography method enables measurement of eight antiretroviral agents.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel liquid chromatography-based assay enables the simultaneous monitoring of a wide range of antiretroviral agents. Scientists in the Netherlands developed "a reversed-phase high-performance...

Novel oligonucleotide has strong RNA binding but limited efficacy.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A novel anti-HIV oligonucleotide has strong RNA-binding ability but limited antiviral efficacy. In the journal Nucleic Acids Research, scientists in England described "the synthesis of a novel...

AIDS vaccine developer names chief medical officer.
July 28, 2003... 2003 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Therion Biologics Corp. announced the appointment of Thomas J. Schuetz, MD, PhD, to the position of chief medical officer. A board certified oncologist, Schuetz brings to Therion a comprehensive...