Vaccine Experts Confused & Dismayed

November 12, 12:20 PM
AIDS vaccines experts confused, dismayed
AIDS vaccine researchers are worried about the future of their field after learning an experimental HIV vaccine not only does not work, but just might make recipients more susceptible to infection with the AIDS virus.

They are worried about their volunteers and the future of AIDS vaccines in general. And they are worried because they cannot understand how a vaccine would make a person more vulnerable.


Researchers from Merck & Co., which makes the vaccine, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is helping develop it, said they believe a type of common cold virus used as the basis of the vaccine may somehow have made their volunteers more susceptible to HIV.

They are meeting this week in Seattle to hash through the data and figure out what happened.

This is what they know: Out of 1,500 people vaccinated, 82 became infected with the AIDS virus. Of these, 49 got the vaccine and 33 got a placebo shot.

While they are counselling volunteers that they may have raised their own risk of becoming infected, they are also trying to figure out what happened.

"The data are disappointing and puzzling but we don't have definitive answers," Dr. Lawrence Corey of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, who was organising the trial, told reporters.

Only one woman in the trial became infected with HIV. The rest were men having sex with other men, and it was the men who started out with the highest immune response to the adenovirus 5 common cold bug used to make the vaccine who were the most likely to become infected with the AIDS virus.

But the infected men were also less likely to have been circumcised - circumcision can also prevent HIV infection - and may have engaged in more risky behaviour. So did the vaccine actually do something, or were the results a fluke?

"I don't think we really do know," Dr. Keith Gottesdiener of Merck Research Laboratories told Reuters.

Nearly 30 potential AIDS vaccines are being tested in people around the world.

"It is very important for the future of the field," said Margaret Johnston, director of the AIDS vaccine research program at the NIAID.

"It makes us rethink some of the candidates that are in trial," said Dr. Seth Berkley, president of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Even vaccine advocates are calling it a setback.

"These data are deeply disappointing and troubling, and raise more questions than answers for the field of AIDS vaccine," said AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition executive director Mitchell Warren.

"This setback should not and can not diminish our commitment to developing an effective HIV vaccine," said NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci. "Every day, another 12,000 people become infected with HIV, most of whom live in resource-poor countries," he added.

The researchers agree the finding could at the very least scare people off from taking part in AIDS vaccine trials. And because HIV only infects people, having human volunteers is key to finding a way to prevent an infection that has killed 25 million people and affects 40 million more.

"That is why we are being completely transparent, as open as possible," Fauci said in a recent interview.

Berkley agreed. "I am only worried if there is a lot of buzz, misinformation around," he said.

But the fact that vaccine volunteers even became infected drives home the need for a vaccine, said Berkley. All the volunteers were counselled about ways to avoid HIV infection, and given condoms. "If those behavioural change interventions worked, we wouldn't need a vaccine," Berkley said.

"People will get infected despite the best counselling possible."

Scientists Will Develope HIV Vaccine Soon

Scientists Will Develop HIV Vaccine Soon
Posted November 10th, 2007 by Piyush DiwanHealth Update World News A new technique of combating HIV infection has been discovered by scientists at University of California-San Francisco and the University of Toronto.

An HIV infection relies on the remnants of ancient viruses, human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) that have become part of the genome of every human cell. Nearly 8 percent of DNA in human genome consists of viral genes, which are already present from millions of years ago. When modern virus attacks a cell, the ancient genes get triggered off producing tiny proteins that move to the surface of cell after HIV infection and indicate a distinctive signal –called HERV.

According to the study, HERV were present in 15 out of 16 participants who were HIV+ and not yet used antiretroviral drugs. 4 HIV- participants displayed no evidence of signals that indicated that their immune systems might be putting control over HIV.

Douglas Nixon, UCSF immunologist and his team said that the signals from ancient viruses consistently are found on the cells infected with HIV that are where the potential of vaccine that attacks HERV might be successful. Scientists might be able to eliminate the HIV-infected cells if they could develop a vaccine, which stimulates a strong response against these ancient viral signals.

The evidence shows that HIV infection could enable HERV expression by cutting off the normal controls that keep HERV in check.

The research team is also observing a small subset of people who are able to control HIV naturally, known as elite controllers, who produce high levels of HERV proteins. In many HIV-infected individuals, the infection fighting T cells are able to target HERV expressing cells. Scientists believe that their findings could lead to a vaccine targeting HERV that kills HIV infected cells.

Keith E. Garrison, PhD., post-doctoral fellow in UCSF’s Division of Experimental Medicine, and study co-author, said, “One important limitation to a T-cell vaccine targeting HIV itself is that HIV exists in so many variations and is constantly mutating. If we can find other ways for the immune system to target HIV-infected cells, we can overcome this problem in making an HIV vaccine. HERV may provide us with a good target to test.”

Nixon explained that any vaccine developed to attack an ancient virus has the potential to attack amiable cells, which can stimulate a dangerous autoimmune response. More research is required before a potential vaccine of this nature would be available for testing in humans. The study is published in November 9, 2007 issue of journal “PLoS Pathogens.”

Reportedly, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said circumcision should not be promoted as a way to prevent HIV transmission because it could encourage recklessness among youth.

At a Youth Activist Forum conference, Museveni said that he would continue to promote the ABC strategy for HIV prevention that stands for abstinence, be faithful and use condoms. He also encouraged youth to get married immediately after completing their education.

RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME & HIV

Windows Live™

)
CATIE News – Restless legs and HIV

Complications affecting the nervous system are common in people with HIV/AIDS (PHAs). In part these arise because HIV-infected cells produce proteins that affect the health of cells in the brain and spinal cord as well as nerve cells in the rest of the body. As a result, some brain cells can malfunction and even die, as can nerves in the rest of the body. Some of the complications that can affect the nervous systems of PHAs include the following:

* difficulty concentrating
* poor memory
* difficulty thinking clearly
* problems controlling muscles
* difficulty coordinating movement
* pain or numbness in nerves in the hands, legs and feet

Now doctors at the University of Münster in Germany have found what may be an additional complication—restless legs syndrome (RLS).

RLS is the term for a group of symptoms whereby people feel compelled to move their legs, feet or, in some cases, arms. The need to move legs occurs when a person is lying down or sitting for prolonged periods. Relief from RLS usually occurs when affected people do the following:

* stretch
* shake or wriggle their legs
* walk
* engage in exercise

Symptoms of RLS are usually more troublesome at night. People affected by this syndrome often have sleep disturbances—waking up prematurely or difficulty falling or staying asleep.

The precise cause of RLS is unclear. Some researchers suggest that there may be an insufficient level of a nerve-signaling compound called dopamine in the nerves of affected people.

In general, RLS is not linked to a serious underlying medical condition. But sometimes RLS can be found in people with the following symptoms or disorders:

* damaged nerves in the hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy); this can arise from alcohol abuse, diabetes or HIV infection
* insufficient iron
* severe kidney damage; when kidneys malfunction the level of iron in the blood can decrease

Some researchers think that there may be some kind of link between abnormal immunity and RLS. For instance, conditions in which the immune system attacks itself or parts of the body (autoimmunity) have been noted to carry an increased risk for RLS. These autoimmune conditions can include the following:

* rheumatoid arthritis
* multiple sclerosis
* diabetes

Researchers at the University of Münster have theorized that since HIV damages the immune system and increases the risk of peripheral neuropathy perhaps it also carries an increased risk for RLS. They conducted a pilot study to find out. The results from this study suggest that RLS may be more common in PHAs than in HIV negative people.

Study details
Researchers handed out or mailed surveys to 228 PHAs; only 129 PHAs responded. The study team then compared health information from 100 similar HIV negative people to the 129 PHAs. The average profile of PHAs in this study was as follows:

* 14% female, 86% male
* age – 44 years
* CD4+ count – 333 cells
* 44% of participants had AIDS-related symptoms in the past
* 82% of participants were taking HAART

Results
Of the 129 PHAs who responded to the survey, 33% had RLS compared to 7% of the HIV negative people. Moreover, PHAs were more likely to have severe symptoms of RLS. Also, the lower a PHA’s CD4+ count, the more likely the severity of RLS.

About 20% of PHAs with RLS also had a relative with RLS. None of the HIV negative people reported having relatives with RLS.

PHAs with RLS were more likely to have other complications, including the following:

* difficulty falling asleep
* difficulty staying asleep
* unexpected daytime tiredness

Bear in mind
The researchers suspect that RLS may have an underlying immunological link, though they cannot identify it at this time. That about 33% of PHAs had this problem is noteworthy because that is about the proportion of people with RLS in some other studies of immunological disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The study team highlights the apparent relationship between RLS and reduced CD4+ count in PHAs.

A major weakness of this study was its recruitment of volunteers from hospital-based clinics specializing in neurology and internal medicine. These sources of recruitment may have led to an excessive intake of PHAs with nervous system disorders. Still, the German study is an important first step in identifying RLS in PHAs. Hopefully, this research will stimulate other research centres to also study RLS in this population.

Although the intent of the study was not to assess the effectiveness of therapy for RLS, doctors at the University of Münster’s clinics prescribed L-dopa (dopamine) for 10 of their PHA patients. According to the research team, responses to therapy were “good to excellent.”

—Sean R. Hosein

REFERENCES:

1. Happe S, Kundmüller, Reichelt D, et al. Comorbidity of restless legs syndrome and HIV infection. Journal of Neurology 2007 Oct;254(10):1401-6.

2. Stefansson H, Rye DB, Hicks A, et To see a directory of archived messages, visit CATIE's Web site at http://www.catie.ca/catienews.nsf

To subscribe to the list, visit https://www.catie.ca/mailing.nsf/subscribe

BEST ANSWER TOQ=WHATS YOUR JOB & DO U LIKE IT?

I am on disability pension but do HIV-AIDS Education & Awareness & Living with HIV Talks at local places of education & i do out-reach work at night.I am always happy to do the talks,afterwords is cool as 9/10 all the students will come up & continue to ask Q ,saying how it takes guts to stand in front of a class & tell your life story & to keep up the great work on staying clean off of coke heroin & speed.(3 yrs) & so where i once was part of the problem i am now part of the solution.My faith in GOD & Jesus was not misplaced,& so i take 1 day at a time.i forgot to mention that i did have hep-c but found out recntly that i am no longer hep-c +!!!i Thank GOD EVERYDAY!!

* 1 week ago

Source(s):
me,myself & i,gratefull recovering coke,heroin&speed addict with 3 yrs clean.HIV+ 2001,ohya cured of hep-c in 07!

* 0 Rating: Good Answer
* 0 Rating: Bad Answer
* Report It

Asker's Rating:
5 out of 5
Asker's Comment:
thanks for all the reply's .......they all sound interesting .......but i have 2 choose this answer .......cause i couldnt do this job knowing i had hiv ............you are braver than i would be tc xxx

SELENIUM CHEAP SUPPLEMENT THAT WORKS SLOWING DOWN HIV VIRUS-STUDY FINDS!

Selenium supplementation slows HIV progression
November 1, 2007

This study looked specifically at selenium supplementation and how it affects progression of HIV. (As usual, the scientific evidence builds up over time: earlier research had already produced some findings about the role of selenium in immune system function, and its potential benefit for people with HIV.)

The 2007 finding: a daily supplement of selenium can “suppress the progression of HIV-1 viral burden and provide indirect improvement of CD4 count.” And the study results “support the use of selenium as a simple, inexpensive, and safe adjunct therapy in HIV spectrum disease.”

Interestingly, the study found that selenium supplementation was beneficial regardless of factors such as past drug use, time since HIV diagnosis, adherence to antiretroviral medication, and infection with hepatitis C. So–a very general usefulness for this supplement for slowing progression of HIV.


“Suppression of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Viral Load With Selenium Supplementation.”
Barry E. Hurwitz; Johanna R. Klaus; Maria M. Llabre; Alex Gonzalez; Peter J. Lawrence; Kevin J. Maher; Jeffrey M. Greeson; Marianna K. Baum; Gail Shor- Posner; Jay S. Skyler; Neil Schneiderman.
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:148-154.