MyDD :: Hope once again rears its ugly head

Hope once again rears its ugly head - new AIDS research

by MS01 Indie, Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 06:34:23 PM EST

The July 16th issue of Science Daily included an article about a research program at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston believe they have found a way to kill the virus that causes HIV.

Even though this was published two weeks ago, the news is just now appearing in the MSM. The news is an encouraging sign in the battle against HIV and AIDS.

The core part of the research focuses on antibodies that attack a non-changing part of the virus. Since the HIV virus is very changeable, regular antibody research has failed to produce a vaccine. This new approach holds out great promise.

"The work of Dr. Paul's group is highly innovative. They have identified antibodies that, instead of passively binding to the target molecule, are able to fragment it and destroy its function. Their recent work indicates that naturally occurring catalytic antibodies, particularly those of the IgA subtype, may be useful in the treatment and prevention of HIV infection," said Steven J. Norris, Ph.D., holder of the Robert Greer Professorship in the Biomedical Sciences and vice chair for research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the UT Medical School at Houston.

A key bit of evidence that led to the discovery was the presence of effective antibodies that can be produced by Lupus patients and a small minority of AIDS victims that begin to produce antibodies years after they first become infected.

The abzymes are derived from HIV negative people with the autoimmune disease lupus and a small number of HIV positive people who do not require treatment and do not get AIDS. Stephanie Planque, lead author and UT Medical School at Houston graduate student, said, "We discovered that disturbed immunological events in lupus patients can generate abzymes to the Achilles heel of HIV.

Human studies have not yet begun, but early trials using human blood have proven positive.

Carl Hanson, Ph.D., who heads the Retrovirus Diagnostic Section of the Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory of the California Department of Public Health, has shown that the abzymes neutralize infection of human blood cells by diverse strains of HIV from various parts of the world. Human blood cells are the only cells that HIV infects.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Dr. Paul, when asked in a television interview when a vaccine could be available, said the FDA predicted 15-20 years. He is more optimistic. He believes human trials can begin in as little as 6-9 months and that a vaccine could be available in 5-10 years.

Feel hope. It may be a four-letter word, but then so is love. Hope is a wonderful thing.

Tags: aids, hiv, vaccine, cure, possible cure, clinical trials, antibodies (all tags)

Permalink :: 27 Comments :: Post a Comment

HEAR HEAR!! (2.00 / 2)

great read!

by hocuspocus on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 06:49:09 PM EST

We can protect ourselves now with (none / 0)

personal lubricants containing carrageenan, such as the personal lubricant called "Divine 9," which is available online and elsewhere.

Divine 9 has been shown to protect against viral STD infections, including transmission of herpes viruses, and perhaps HPV and HIV.

Basically, guys and gals, without enough lubricants, we're vulnerable to abrasions, and skin that gets abraded is much more likely to be infected. Also, a lubricant can create a kind of membrane/barrier separating the two partners at the molecular level, and there may be other mechanisms as well. The carageenan product in Divine 9 (and some other lubricant products) seems to have particular anti-viral properties.

There has been research on personal lubricants and STD prevention for many years, but it hasn't gotten nearly enough publicity.

We may be able to prevent some STDs by taking better care of ourselves, choosing partners carefully, and using lubricants. Of course, condoms are key too, but face it, some people aren't going to use them.

The idea of a new drug treatment in 5-10 years is wonderful, but in the mean time, read up on the personal lubricant side of the story.

and...p.s., sex is better when you're well oiled!

by enthusiast on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 08:59:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We can protect ourselves now with (none / 0)

Divine 9 has been tested and found to be effective in two studies against HPV - but sadly not HIV.

A raincoat is still the best protection for safer sex - skip the bare-backing and don a condom. :)

Anthropologists for human diversity; opposing racism,sexism,homophobism, ageism and ethnocentrism.

by NeciVelez on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:19:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

and for them, doing anything to minimize risk of STD would be a good thing,

especially if using Divine 9 turns out to make sex more pleasurable than otherwise.

One other point - we now have an HPV vaccine (Gardisil), but it is not being made available quickly enough, and many women will probably end up with cancerous lesions if they are infected with HPV.

Too many young people are not being vaccinated, including boys (no males are currently receiving Gardisil vaccinations), because all the research has focused on females only, and young women at that.

Older women could be vaccinated, but the research has focused only on virgin girls. The research efforts are not moving quickly enough to stem the HPV epidemic.

by enthusiast on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 10:02:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

"some do not use condoms"

God knows the progress we could make if we could stamp out this attitude. The cold hard truth is that it is preventable, and when I read that half of the aids cases in this country were black, I was thrown for a loop.

I dont like to use hyperbole, but not using is condom, IS gambling with your life and I dont know if people are not educated, or just dont care. If its the first one, I have a great deal of hope, if it is the second, I feel nothing but hopeless.

"Is there no keeping with class in whom we mingle with anymore?"

by Brandon on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 10:12:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

HIV cases (none / 0)

just a clarification.

"Is there no keeping with class in whom we mingle with anymore?"

by Brandon on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 10:12:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

Educate Yourself. Others are also welcome to use the link as well. This is a disease that a huge majority of both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate thought was urgent enough to allocate $48 billion dollars to through PEPFAR. That amount of money won't even scratch the surface of what it would take to actually make the disease preventable. So the doctor in the Senate amended the bill to specify that at least 55% of these funds would be spent on treating people already infected with HIV. If the cold hard truth is that HIV is preventable, why would at least a thousand times more money be spent globally and in the US on treatment as opposed to prevention?

But your post indicates that you are at least thinking about the subject, and you should be commended for that. Eventually you will come to the conclusion, as have many great scientists and leaders of the world, that HIV, sexual trafficking, infant death rates (including among both Blacks and Whites in the United States), and several other seemingly intractable problems could become much more preventable if sexism, racism, homophobia and classism were reduced or eliminated. But take it one step at a time. When the cold hard truth is finally revealed, it will really throw you for a loop.

Maybe you should start with a smaller concept, as you allude to in your post. This also has significant implications with regards to preventable diseases and the overall health of the world. Ignorance is 100% preventable, right? I don't equate illiteracy with ignorance. For this exercise let's assume that ignorance is 100% preventable through education. Why do people still suffer from ignorance? Do they just not care? Something has to be in the way of eradicating ignorance. No need for hyperbole. Just an opinion on what that something might be?

by Jeter on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 02:52:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

money's not the answer in and of itself, and PEPFAR is at least a questionable thing if really interested in saving lives as opposed to subsidising US pharma. indeed the key is PREVENTION and certainly not getting treatment to everyone - unless there's a commitment for life-long treatment - but of course US Aid by no means at all commits to that time-frame. A 1-2 year treatment with cutoff if arguably far more counterproductive than effective prevention.

by swissffun on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 10:47:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

It's arguably possible that having everyone - and I mean everyone - take anti-HIV meds for a limited amount of time would leave most people undetectable and create an epidemiological downward spiral in the potential to transmit HIV, but that's really what a vaccine should do. Until that time, people with undetectable HIV viral loads are significantly less likely to transmit HIV, so you are wrong based on current resources that treatment is not prevention. We don't have a vaccine. We need to empower people (women, primarily) to be able to say no to unwanted sexual use by men. That is just not possible at this point based on the economical and cultural realities of the world. PEPFAR at least makes treatments available at a price point way lower than that in the US or Europe. And as soon as there is access to both male and female condoms, paid for by other than poor people who can't afford food or medicine for the preventable disease of malaria, for example, the focus on prevention is just a complaint that unless everyone contributes to the money needed to make prevention tools accessible we will be spending money on treatment . Blaming the pharmaceutical industry is convenient and perhaps satisfying, but they are just a very small part of a solution to ending the AIDS pandemic.

by Jeter on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 09:15:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

I read an article around the time gardisil came out that there was a significant contingent of parents who opposed using the vaccine, and the hep-b one, on their daughters out of some belief that it would increase promiscuity. Parents like this need to be arrested for child abuse. It reminds me of the folks opposing thorough sex-ed with condom distribution in favor of abstinence-only programs. That's criminal enough here, but many groups feel the same way about Africa, where the AIDS epidemic is so much worse. That this kind of attitude is so common makes me depressed about democracy sometimes.

by semiquaver on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 11:28:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

Some conservative groups raised the specter of kids becoming sexually promiscuous because of the vaccine. That is such a nonsensical thought that it is laughable.

On the subject of condoms in Africa, what has happened is criminal in my mind. How many millions of lives have been lost because of the ridiculous opposition of using our aid dollars for condoms? Not just our money either. It also meant any group that did pass out condoms couldn't receive any aid dollars from the US. This is a policy I am hoping will get reversed as soon as Bush leaves office.

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson

by MS01 Indie on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 11:41:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

good luck on that ---- the dem congress has continued this shit, with absolutely NO EXCUSE!! Don't know enough about what Obama really plans to do regarding the AIDS Pandemic. Hope it's more than just Hope.

by swissffun on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 10:52:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

I'm curious about something. This diary is about an exciting breaktrough in the battle against a deadly disease. You posted to fairly negative comments and nothing positive. Doesn't anything make you feel happy?

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson

by MS01 Indie on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 11:19:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

i was just responding to comments, not the diary in general. otherwise I'd have posted a comment directly to the diary. sorry if I'm not more upbeat about the specifics of PEPFHAR and the purity-oath being resupported by the DEM congress- you'd be wrong if that means I'm negative about everything.

by swissffun on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 01:00:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: some do not use condoms, (none / 0)

thought the diary was great, wish there was more like this here and less of the standard political tit-tats. don't take my neg comments as any reflection on your diary.

by swissffun on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 01:01:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hope (2.00 / 2)

great news!

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.

by jsfox on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 06:58:21 PM EST

Re: Hope once again rears its ugly head - new AIDS (2.00 / 1)

I hadn't heard about this. You made my day, seriously.

"It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety". Salvor Hardin

by Denny Crane on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 07:06:57 PM EST

Re: Hope once again rears its ugly head - new AIDS (2.00 / 3)

I have to second this. As someone living with HIV, this is encouraging news!

-- Dizzy
Proudly cross-posting everything to:
http://www.computerqueen.net/
http://clintonistasforobama.blogspot.com /

by DizzyQueen on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:04:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Wonderful diary. (2.00 / 2)

I wasn't aware of this. Thank you.

Even John McCain lusts after teh engels.

by sricki on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 07:25:25 PM EST

Re: Hope once again rears its ugly head - new AIDS (2.00 / 2)

The International AIDS Conference 2008 in Mexico starts in a few days. To experience the entire event and read or listen to actual advances in research, treatment and prevention I suggest you stop by. Just bookmark this link.

by Jeter on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 08:13:00 PM EST

This is wonderful news - kudos to Dr. Paul (2.00 / 1)

and his team.

Anthropologists for human diversity; opposing racism,sexism,homophobism, ageism and ethnocentrism.

by NeciVelez on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:05:37 PM EST

great great news! (2.00 / 1)

and great great diary. highly rec'd.

"Democracy! Bah! When I hear that word I reach for my feather Boa!" -- Allen Ginsberg

by canadian gal on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:13:56 PM EST

Re: Hope once again rears its ugly head - new AIDS (2.00 / 1)

This is great news! The pessimist in me has to point out though that we've seen many supposed breakthroughs in the past that went nowhere due to HIV's remarkable ability to mutate so quickly, though 'antibodies that attack a non-changing part of the virus' sounds pretty exciting. In other recent AIDS news, large scale human trials for the promising "PAVE" vaccine were cancelled last week due to various unanswered questions. A cure would be simply awesome, but in the past, we've had much more success eliminating and drastically reducing viruses with vaccination (like smallpox), so that avenue of research is key.

by semiquaver on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:41:46 PM EST

Re: Hope once again rears its ugly head - new AIDS (2.00 / 2)

What I find most exciting is that it is based on antibodies that are present in some people already. This isn't some synthetic drug that might have side effects that outweigh its benefits. BTW, I believe I heard Dr Paul state that they have already synthesized the antibodies.

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Samuel Johnson

by MS01 Indie on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 10:32:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hope once again rears its ugly head - new AIDS (none / 0)

Please see my link to the conference. There are several actual promising advances that might lead to better or more tolerable treatments.

by Jeter on Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 03:25:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Some things fail, but some succeed (2.00 / 1)

Gleevec, by Novartis, is virtually a cure for Chronic Myolin Leukemia. I have a very good friend who is still very much alive today and healthy as a horse after being diagnosed with CML. When they did the first bone marrow tests his blood was like a strawberry milkshake of rampant mutated white blood cells.

Now, for six years after diagnosis, it remains at a solid big-fat-ZERO count. (the crowd goes freaking wild, trashes the stadium, and goes on a three-day bender. Doves fly, children sing and a choir of angels weeps for joy!)

Many things don't work, but sometimes Hope does win. The world doesn't always progress fast enough to see day to day, but we're winning.

-chris

Motley Moose: Progress Through Politics

by chrisblask on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 11:00:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Good news, (2.00 / 1)

I dont know anyone in my life that is not affected by this, any progress is good news.

"Is there no keeping with class in whom we mingle with anymore?"

by Brandon on Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 09:44:41 PM EST

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