CD4 News and Research

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Schering-Plough provides update on phase II study of Vicriviroc

Schering-Plough Corporation has provided an update on vicriviroc, its investigational CCR5 receptor antagonist, currently being evaluated by the NIH-sponsored Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) in an ongoing Phase II clinical study of 118 U.S. treatment-experienced HIV patients.

6 Mar 2006

HAART is very cost-effective

New research shows that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is very cost-effective, despite the high price tag. However, the study also shows that reimbursement to physicians treating patients with HIV is critically low, threatening patients' access to care.

1 Mar 2006

Selective T cell stimulation could help improve treatment of autoimmune disease and cancer

The findings could also be significant for developing new ways to help patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or juvenile diabetes.

23 Feb 2006

Gene discovery may reinvigorate the body's immune system after fighting viral infections

Like boxers wearied by a 15-round bout, the immune system's CD8 T cells eventually become "exhausted" in their battle against persistent viral infection, and less effective in fighting the disease.

29 Dec 2005

Zinc supplements safe for chidren with HIV

Zinc-deficient children living in communities where they do not receive adequate amounts of zinc from their diet should be given supplements, even if they are HIV-infected, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions.

26 Nov 2005

HIV antiretroviral therapy does help those in third world

With preliminary results from a study in Botswana, Harvard School of Public Health researchers have found that people with HIV-1 subtype C in resource-poor settings, who receive antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, can achieve comparable results to those in the developed world.

7 Nov 2005

New insight into the eradication of HIV in infected individuals receiving antiviral therapy

Antiviral therapy has been used to suppress HIV replication and has dramatically improved the clinical course of disease in affected patients. But the existence of viral reservoirs precludes the complete elimination of HIV from treated patients.

3 Nov 2005

Identification of a factor in human milk that can block HIV-1 transmission

Mother to child transmission of HIV accounts for a large proportion of HIV infections in children, with many infected as a result of breastfeeding, which requires transfer of the virus across mucosal barriers. DC-SIGN, a DC lectin receptor, interacts with HIV and is found at high expression levels in tonsillar tissue.

20 Oct 2005

Endocytosis of HIV-1 activates plasmacytoid dendritic cells via toll-like receptor -viral RNA interactions

Progressive disease after HIV infection is inversely correlated with the presence of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), a subset of the dendritic cell family and the major producers of type 1 interferon in the body. High numbers of pDCs is related to successful control of HIV.

13 Oct 2005

Discovery of molecular roots of asthma, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis

The molecular roots of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as asthma, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis (MS) have been discovered by a team of researchers led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. They say their findings may point to ways to effectively treat these diseases - if not stop them before they start.

4 Oct 2005

Study shows that high-fat diets correlate to a chronic inflammatory state in the liver,

Mice that were fed diets high in fat and sugar developed immune system abnormalities in their livers, including reduced numbers of natural killer T (NKT) cells. These diet-related changes may contribute to obesity-related liver disease, according to a new study.

3 Oct 2005

Discovery that protein CD38 interrupts an interaction between the AIDS virus and its point of entry into cells

Cornell University researchers have discovered the 3-D crystal structure of a protein, human CD38, which may lead to important discoveries about how cells release calcium - a mineral used in almost every cellular process.

19 Sep 2005

Profile of immune cells in axillary lymph nodes predicts disease-free survival in breast cancer

Breast cancer often spreads through the lymph nodes in the arm pits (so-called axillary lymph nodes), and whether these lymph nodes are tumor-free or contain small metastases is an important factor in the decision of how aggressively to treat a patient.

6 Sep 2005

Potential new way to fight HIV

Researchers have confirmed for the first time the benefit of an innate defense system present in the few patients who remain healthy after years of infection with HIV despite receiving no treatment, according to an article published in the September edition of the Journal of Virology.

1 Sep 2005

New strategy to turn off the function of a special group of T cells to suppress immune response to tumors

A special stretch of genetic material may turn off the immune suppression that stymies attempts to fight cancer with a vaccine, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) at Houston.

26 Aug 2005

Body's own defense mechanism causes some of the most serious asthma symptoms

McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) scientists have discovered that our body's own defense mechanism causes some of the most serious asthma symptoms.

13 Aug 2005

Moving towards a cheap and easy way to monitor HIV/AIDS

Doctors regularly monitor the level of an immune cell in the blood called a CD4 cell in HIV-infected individuals, to decide when to start treatment and when to change medications.

19 Jul 2005

Research explains one of the fundamental mysteries of multiple sclerosis

Scientists have pinpointed a chemical messenger that frees some white blood cells from the body's normal constraints, allowing the cells to act like renegades that could damage nerves in the central nervous system. The work, to be published in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology and just published on-line, helps explain one of the fundamental mysteries of multiple sclerosis (MS).

11 Jul 2005

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of coronary artery disease

The findings of research published today in Arthritis Research & Therapy show that CAD is accelerated in RA patients, and patients with both RA and CAD are at an increased risk of death from heart disease.

28 Jun 2005

OHSU scientists say low FOXP3 means fewer disease-fighting cells, but new drug may help multiple sclerosis

Oregon Health & Science University researchers have measured genetic changes reflecting a drop in the body's ability to suppress inflammatory cells that attack nerve fibers and promote progression of multiple sclerosis.

27 Jun 2005