From the National Institutes of Health

Article Abstract:

Four brief reports about recent research findings from the National Institutes of Health are included. In the first, it is reported that studies using animal models of cancer have shown that photodynamic treatment with chloroaluminum sulfonated phthalocyanine (CASPc) can reduce malignant tumors without causing adverse effects on the skin and body. The second report notes that tamoxifen, a drug that counteracts the effects of the hormone estrogen, is commonly used to treat breast cancer. This anti-estrogenic agent decreases levels of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), which activates cell proliferation, or overgrowth. Tamoxifen may reduce IGF-I levels by blocking the actions of estrogen at the hypothalamus and pituitary; reducing the effect of estrogen to stimulate the expression of the IGF-I gene; or reducing the levels of serum IGF-I binding proteins, which carry IGF-I in the blood. Increased understanding of the physiological effects of tamoxifen will contribute to more effective hormonal treatment of breast cancer and other malignant tumors. The third report states that a reduced rate of glucose removal from the blood and hyperinsulinemia, or increased blood levels of insulin, may be the major defects in type II diabetes, rather than a lack of insulin. One study showed that children of diabetic parents had slower glucose removal rates and higher insulin levels; 16 percent of these children developed type II diabetes. Elevated levels of insulin and slow removal of glucose gradually lead to decreased release of insulin. Finally, the fourth report states that interferon gamma was shown to decrease the incidence of infections associated with chronic granulomatous disease, a genetic immune disorder. One study showed that serious infection developed in 14 of 63 patients with chronic granulomatous disease treated with interferon gamma and 30 of 65 similar patients given a placebo, or substance with no therapeutic effect. Interferon treatment decreased the number of infections and was most beneficial in younger patients. Prophylactic (preventive) treatment with interferon is recommended for patients with chronic granulomatous disease to reduce infections. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Models, Physiological aspects, Drug therapy, Type 2 diabetes, Cancer, Tumors, Interferon, Tamoxifen, Chronic granulomatous disease

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Possible AIDS virus subgroup identified

Article Abstract:

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the virus that causes AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Research has recently demonstrated that the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolated from the brain is different from the HIV-1 found in the general blood circulation and the lymph nodes. Scientists at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco studied the HIV-1 virus taken from the central nervous systems of patients with neurological complications of HIV infection; it differed from the HIV-1 isolated from blood samples of infected individuals who did not have neurological involvement. The researchers then compared HIV-1 from the brain and from the blood of one patient with neurological involvement and again found differences in the forms of the virus from the two locations. The two variants of HIV-1 were found to have different properties in terms of how well they replicated, which types of body cells they reproduced in best, and other functions. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Identification and classification, AIDS research

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Method developed to produce noninfectious particles of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus

Article Abstract:

Researchers are working intensively to develop a vaccine for AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), the infectious disease that has killed many Americans during the past decade. Scientists have made a discovery that could advance vaccine development. A medical student at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has produced a noninfectious form of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The HIV-like particles followed a progression of synthesis and maturation very similar to the natural infection process of HIV-1. The medical student and his colleagues hope that these noninfectious particles will reveal important information about natural HIV-1 maturation and will serve as safe material for vaccine production. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Prevention, AIDS vaccines

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