HIV

Infant formula blocks HIV transmission via breastfeeding

harminka — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:15:47 -0500

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a global epidemic threatening the lives of millions of people. Because there is no known cure, prevention of the transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), is critical for controlling the disease.

Since Introduction of antiretroviral therapy, HIV death rate has decreased

harminka — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:36:27 -0500

In industrialized countries, persons infected sexually with HIV now appear to experience mortality rates similar to those of the general population in the first 5 years following infection, though a higher risk of death remains as the duration of HIV infection lengthens, according to a study in the July 2 issue of JAMA.

Zinc finger proteins put personalized HIV therapy within reach

harminka — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:17:06 -0500

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and collaborators are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T cells to one day treat AIDS in humans.

If HIV prevention gels are safe for pregnant women, their babies

harminka — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:00:44 -0500

Clinical trials hoping to identify a vaginal microbicide that is both safe and effective against HIV have all but skirted questions befitting the evaluation of an approach intended primarily for sexually active women of childbearing age: What if a woman becomes pregnant while using a product? Can exposure to a product, especially early in pregnancy, pose a risk to the developing fetus?

Gender Affects Reaction to HIV-Prevention Materials

harminka — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:36:14 -0500

Various intervention strategies have been implemented to curb the rise of HIV, and a factor that might affect exposure to interventions is gender. A new study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology reviewed the behavior of participants exposed to various HIV brochures.

Circumcision safe in both HIV-infected and HIV–uninfected men

harminka — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:40:41 -0500

Adult circumcision is safe in HIV-infected men without advanced HIV disease, according to research published in PLoS Medicine.

Molecular changes in brain fluid give insight into brain-damaging disease

harminka — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:39:21 -0500

Soon after an individual becomes infected with HIV the virus infects cells in the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system [CNS]). Although this causes no immediate problems, during the late-stages of disease it can cause dementia and encephalitis (acute inflammation of the brain that can cause death).

Scientists image single HIV particle being born

harminka — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:53:43 -0500

A mapmaker and a mathematician may seem like an unlikely duo, but together they worked out a way to measure longitude – and kept millions of sailors from getting lost at sea. Now, another unlikely duo, a virologist and a biophysicist at Rockefeller University, is making history of their own.

New treatments for HIV

harminka — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:50:41 -0500

By identifying a protein that restricts the release of HIV-1 virus from human cells, scientists believe they may be closer to identifying new approaches to treatment. The research is published in the advance online edition of Nature Medicine.

Protein's role in enabling AIDS virus to reproduce

harminka — Sat, 24 May 2008 04:03:59 -0500

A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has discovered new details about how a simian strain of the AIDS virus replicates. The findings are significant because they suggest new strategies to prevent replication, and because they are applicable to human strains of the virus, which, despite the persistent efforts of scientists over two decades, can only be slowed by drug treatments but neither cured nor prevented.

Failed HIV drug gets second chance with addition of gold nanoparticles

harminka — Sat, 24 May 2008 03:23:28 -0500

Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that adding tiny bits of gold to a failed HIV drug rekindle the drug's ability to stop the virus from invading the body's immune system.

Unique HIV vaccine formula elicits strong immune responses

harminka — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:49:31 -0500

Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. (ABL) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) report that their unique HIV vaccine formulation was effective in eliciting strong and balanced immune responses in healthy human volunteers. The findings are published in the journal Vaccine (“Cross-subtype antibody and cellular immune responses induced by a polyvalent DNA prime–protein boost HIV-1 vaccine in healthy human volunteers,” Vaccine online, May 22, 2008.