Science Daily - HIV/AIDS

ScienceDaily: HIV and AIDS News

Clergy can fight HIV on faith-friendly terms
In the United States, where blacks bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, black religious institutions could help turn the tide. In a new study based on dozens of interviews and focus groups with 38 of Philadelphia's most influential black religious leaders, physicians and public health researchers find that traditional barriers to preaching about HIV prevention could give way to faith-friendly messages about getting tested and staying on treatment.
740,000 lives saved: Benefits of AIDS relief program
The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the government's far-reaching health-care foreign aid program, has contributed to a significant decline in adult death rates from all causes in Africa, according to a new study.
Gene-modified stem cell transplant protects patients from toxic side effects of chemotherapy, study suggests
For the first time, scientists have transplanted brain cancer patients' own gene-modified blood stem cells in order to protect their bone marrow against the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Initial results of the ongoing, small clinical trial of three patients with glioblastoma showed that two patients survived longer than predicted if they had not been given the transplants, and a third patient remains alive with no disease progression almost three years after treatment.
Early elevated hiv infection risk in some step study participants who received vaccine; risk decreased over time
A long-term follow-up analysis of participants in the Step Study, an international HIV-vaccine trial, has confirmed that certain subgroups of male study participants were at higher risk of becoming infected after receiving the experimental vaccine compared to those who received a placebo. The vaccine used in the study did not contain the HIV virus, but it did contain HIV genes which were delivered to cells using a vector that employed a type of cold virus known as adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5).
Genetically modified T cell therapy appears to be safe, lasting in decade-long study of HIV patients
HIV patients treated with genetically modified T cells remain healthy up to 11 years after initial therapy, researchers report. The results provide a framework for the use of this type of gene therapy as a powerful weapon in the treatment of HIV, cancer, and a wide variety of other diseases.
Stem cell therapy shows promise in fight against HIV
Researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS.
Mucus from pig stomachs is effective as anti-viral agent: May be useful in cosmetics and baby formula
Scientists are reporting that the mucus lining the stomachs of pigs could be a long-sought, abundant source of "mucins" being considered for use as broad-spectrum anti-viral agents to supplement baby formula and for use in personal hygiene and other consumer products to protect against a range of viral infections.
'Junk DNA' can sense viral infection: Promising tool in the battle between pathogen and host
Non-coding RNA -- molecules that do not translate into proteins -- were once considered unimportant "junk DNA" by researchers. Now researchers have discovered that when infected with a virus, ncRNA gives off signals that indicate the presence of an infectious agent, providing researchers with a new avenue to fight off infections.
Seeking HIV treatment clues in the neem tree
Preliminary data hint at how extracts from the tree, abundant in tropical and subtropical areas, may stop the virus from multiplying.
Giving preventive drug to men at high risk for HIV would be cost-effective, study shows
A once-a-day pill to help prevent HIV infection could significantly reduce the spread of AIDS, but only makes economic sense if used in select, high-risk groups, researchers conclude in a new study.
Engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living mice
Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principle that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells, a team of researchers have now demonstrated that these cells can actually attack HIV-infected cells in a living organism.
Possible origin of chronic lymphatic leukemia identified
Up until now the causes of the development of chronic lymphatic leukemia, the most common form of cancer of the blood in Europe, have been unknown. At present a cure is not possible. Medical researchers have now however discovered a lead on the origin of this disease.