New Findings Suggest Strategy to Help Generate HIV-Neutralizing Antibodies
November 29, 2009
New discoveries about anti-HIV antibodies may bring researchers a step closer to creating an effective HIV vaccine, according to a new paper co-authored by scientists at the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Scientists know that an HIV-neutralizing antibody called b12 binds to gp120, an HIV surface protein, at one of the few areas of the virus that does not mutate: the site where gp120 initially attaches to human immune cells. It was thought that exposing the human immune system to this site on gp120 would generate antibodies that, like b12, can neutralize HIV. Studies have found that for unknown reasons, however, the vast majority of antibodies that recognize this site do not block the virus from infecting cells. Now a new study solves this puzzle, suggesting that antibodies must home in precisely on the site of initial gp120 attachment to successfully neutralize HIV.
The gp120 protein usually appears on the surface of HIV and on infected cells in inactive forms of viral debris or non-functional viral spikes. Only rarely do gp120 molecules appear on the surface of the virus in a functional viral spike, which contains a cluster of three gp120 molecules, known as a trimer, in specific alignment. HIV uses this functional viral spike to bind to immune cells and infect them.
Free E-Samples Of Prescription Drugs: At What Cost?
November 29, 2009
Search the Internet to learn about your asthma, high cholesterol or other common disorder, and odds are you’ll be directed to a pharmaceutical company-sponsored Web homepage. There you’ll often find an offer for a free sample or a one-time discount on a top-selling prescription medication.
Is it a good deal? Not according to a study of such direct-to-consumer offers on the Internet by a research team led by Dr. William G. Weppner of the University of Washington (UW) Department of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. The results were published in this week’s issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
The results showed that the value of such introductory offers is low compared with the retail cost the patient will pay to continue taking the brand-name medication, and in most cases a less-expensive generic equivalent is not available.
The researchers also found that information on efficacy, safety and side effects was de-emphasized, in contrast to the prominent positioning of the free offer. The benefits of the medication were described in a general way, and some included patient testimonials. Quantitative information on the medication’s indications for use, effectiveness and risks was rarely presented. The researchers suggested that further studies would help determine if free offers distract or divert patients from reading risk information.
Common Pain Relief Medication May Encourage Cancer Growth
November 29, 2009
Although morphine has been the gold-standard treatment for postoperative and chronic cancer pain for two centuries, a growing body of evidence is showing that opiate-based painkillers can stimulate the growth and spread of cancer cells. Two new studies advance that argument and demonstrate how shielding lung cancer cells from opiates reduces cell proliferation, invasion and migration in both cell-culture and mouse models.
The reports–to be presented November 18, 2009, at “Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics,” a joint meeting in Boston of the American Association for Cancer Research, the National Cancer Institute, and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer–highlight the mu opiate receptor, where morphine works, as a potential therapeutic target.
“If confirmed clinically, this could change how we do surgical anesthesia for our cancer patients,” said Patrick A. Singleton, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center and principal author of both studies. “It also suggests potential new applications for this novel class of drugs which should be explored.”
Drug Therapy More Cost-Effective Than Angioplasty For Diabetic Patients With Heart Disease
November 27, 2009
Many patients with diabetes should forego angioplasties for heart disease and just take medicine instead, according to a new National Institutes of Health study led by Stanford University School of Medicine researcher Mark Hlatky, MD.
Previous research had shown that patients with type-2 diabetes and mild-to-moderate heart disease have no reduction in risk for heart attacks, strokes or death if they have an angioplasty compared with simply taking the right medications. The new study shows that there’s substantial cost savings in sticking with drug treatment, with an average savings of $11,000 per patient over four years.
“For patients with relatively mild symptoms of heart disease, angioplasty is clearly more expensive and it’s clearly not more beneficial,” said Hlatky, professor of health research and policy and of cardiovascular medicine, presented the new findings Nov. 17 in Orlando at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. The report will be published online that same day in the journal Circulation.
Plasma Produces KO Cocktail For MRSA
November 26, 2009
Two prototype devices have been developed: one for efficient disinfection of healthy skin (e.g. hands and feet) in hospitals and public spaces where bacteria can pose a lethal threat; and another to shoot bacteria-killing agents into infested chronic wounds and enable a quicker healing process.
Two papers published today, Thursday 26 November, as part of a selection of papers on Plasma Medicine in New Journal of Physics (co-owned by the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society), demonstrate how far the design of equipment to harness the bacteria-killing power of low-temperature plasma has come.
Plasma, oft called the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid and gas, is defined by its ionized state. In space, stars are made up of high-energy plasma and, on Earth, it is researchers in high-energy plasma that are making significant strides towards limitless energy from nuclear fusion. The high energy of plasma stems from some atoms or molecules in a gas being stripped of their electrons, resulting in a mix of ionized and neutral species.
New Imaging Technique Could Lead To Better Antibiotics And Cancer Drugs
November 25, 2009
A recently devised method of imaging the chemical communication and warfare between microorganisms could lead to new antibiotics, antifungal, antiviral and anti-cancer drugs, said a Texas AgriLife Research scientist.
“Translating metabolic exchange with imaging mass spectrometry,” was published Nov. 8 in Nature Chemical Biology, a prominent scientific journal. The article describes a technique developed by a collaborative team that includes Dr. Paul Straight, AgriLife Research scientist in the department of biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University in College Station, Dr. Pieter Dorrestein, Yu-Liang Yang and Yuquan Xu, all at the University of California, San Diego.
“Microorganisms encode in their genomes the capacity to produce many small molecules that are potential new antibiotics,” Straight said. “Because we do not understand the circumstances under which those molecules are produced in the environment, we see only a small fraction of them in the laboratory.”
Implant-Based Cancer Vaccine Is First To Eliminate Tumors
November 25, 2009
A polymer implant, 8.5 mm in diameter, is embedded with chemical signals that encourage immune cells to attack tumors.
A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, scientists report this week (Nov. 25) in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The new approach, pioneered by bioengineers and immunologists at Harvard University, uses plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin to reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors. The journal article describes the use of such implants to eradicate melanoma tumors in mice.
“This work shows the power of applying engineering approaches to immunology,” said David J. Mooney, the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering in Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. “By marrying engineering and immunology through this collaboration with Glenn Dranoff at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we’ve taken a major step toward the design of effective cancer vaccines.”
Tailor-Made HIV/AIDS Treatment Closer To Reality
November 25, 2009
An innovative treatment for HIV/AIDS patients developed by McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) researchers has passed its first clinical trial with flying colours. The new approach is an immunotherapy customized for each individual patient, and was developed by Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy from the Research Institute of the MUHC in collaboration with Dr. Rafick Sékaly from the Université de Montréal. “This is a vaccine made for the individual patient – an “haute couture” therapy, instead of an off-the-rack treatment” said Dr Routy.
By “priming” the immune system, as with a vaccine, to fight the specific strain of HIV/AIDS infecting a given patient, the scientists believe they have developed a therapy that shows immense promise and could be an even more effective weapon against the virus than the anti-retroviral cocktails currently in use. The results of the first-stage clinical trials, which tested the therapy in conjunction with anti-retroviral drugs, were published recently in Clinical Immunology. Phase 2 of the clinical trial, which is nearly complete, is testing the therapy’s efficacy on its own at 8 different sites in Canada.
The new therapy uses dendritic cells which are removed from each HIV-infected patient and subsequently multiplied in-vitro. Dendritic cells present material from invading viruses on their surface, allowing the rest of the immune system to identify and attack the invaders. “They are the “grand conductors” of the immune response,” explains Dr Routy. “With them, you push the immune system, in all its functions, at the same time.” In the current trial, dendritic cells were exposed to a sample of HIV RNA (ribonucleic acid) specific to the patient involved. This exposure encouraged the cells to develop defences specific to that viral strain. The modified cells – called AGS-004 – were then injected back into the patients.
Researchers Begin to Decipher Metabolism of Sexual Assault Drug
November 25, 2009
It’s a naturally occurring brain chemical with an unwieldy name: 4-hydroxybutyrate (4-HB). Taken by mouth, it can be abused or used as a date-rape drug.
Now, a team of Ohio and Michigan scientists have determined new routes by which 4-HB is metabolized by the body. “This is new and important information,” said K. Michael Gibson, professor and chair of biological sciences at Michigan Technological University and a member of the research team. “It may provide new clues on how to counteract the drug’s effects, or to enhance its metabolism and decrease toxicity for chronic abusers or victims of sexual assault.”
Gibson is co-author with Guo-Fang Zhang and others in the laboratory of Prof. Henri Brunengraber from the Department of Nutrition at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine of a paper published online today by the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Their findings will appear in as “paper of the week” in the the print edition of the weekly journal on Nov. 27, 2009. The journal is published by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Involving Family in Medical Rounds Benefits Both Family and Medical Team
November 24, 2009
Involving family members of pediatric cancer and hematology patients in medical rounds benefits both the family and the medical team, according to a new Indiana University School of Medicine study.
Riley Hospital for Children, where the study was conducted, is now one of only a small number of hospitals nationwide routinely offering the parents of pediatric cancer and hematology patients the opportunity to join their child’s medical team as active participants in the discussion and planning of their son’s or daughter’s care.
Medical rounds in hospitals across the United States have changed over the years. They have evolved from formal didactic presentations conducted with great pomp in auditoriums with theater seating where the patient sat quietly on display; to bedside rounds as portrayed in television programs such as Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy and House. The current practice of sit-down team rounds physically removed from the family and patient have become standard due to heighted sensitivity to medical privacy.