Chicago researchers testing HIV vaccine for healthy people.(Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center )(Brief Article)

2002 JUN 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Infectious disease researchers at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago have embarked on a search to find a vaccine to prevent people from contracting the human immuodeficiency virus (HIV).

Rush is recruiting patients for a phase I clinical trial to test the safety of an HIV vaccine that has potential to protect healthy people against the disease. This is one of two types of vaccines being tested around the world, according to infectious disease specialist Dr. Beverly Sha. Other HIV vaccine trials involve testing therapies on those already infected. Rush is the only Chicago-area medical center participating in this HIV vaccine study. Merck Pharmaceuticals is funding this phase of the study.

"I think this is the Holy Grail of HIV treatments, to prevent healthy people from getting infected," said Sha. With 15,000 new HIV infections each day, 95% of which occur in developing countries, there are compelling reasons to search for a vaccine, according to Sha. Existing methods of HIV prevention - abstinence, condoms and education - have not reduced the worldwide incidence of HIV.

Patients who enroll in the study will be randomly assigned to one of three regimens: One group will receive a priming vaccine at the start of their enrollment and the HIV-1 DNA gag vaccine with adjuvant aluminum phosphate; another group will receive the HIV-1 DNA gag vaccine with only the adjuvant; and a third group will receive a placebo injection.

The vaccines Sha is testing work by using vectors to transport a gene of HIV-1, known as gag into the cells. The HIV-1 gag DNA vaccine uses plasmid, or "naked" DNA as a vector. The HIV-1 gag replication-defective adenovirus vaccine is based on a modified common cold virus, altered so it cannot reproduce and ...