Protein identified as TIM 3 that turns off HIV-fighting T cells in HIV positive patients sufferring from AIDS. – In HIV-infected patients the body’s immune system is unable to fight off the virus. A new study to be published online on November 10th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine shows that T cells in HIV-infected individuals express a protein called TIM-3, which inactivates their virus killing capacity.
Study suggests HIV infected patients should start highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) sooner. – Under current treatment guidelines, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) should be considered for HIV-infected patients when their CD4+ T-cell counts fall below 350 cells per cubic millimeter (mm3).
Living Cell Technologies receives New Zealand’s Health Minister?s approval to start leading edge live cell therapy clinical trial in New Zealand for Diabetes patients. – Living Cell Technologies Limited (ASX: LCT; OTCQX: LVCLY) announced that New Zealand Health Minister, the Honorable David Cunliffe, has approved an application from the company to conduct in New Zealand a Phase I/IIa clinical trial of DiabeCell?, LCT’s lead product candidate for the treatment of insulin dependent (Type 1) diabetes.
Research indicates drug alemtuzumab not only stops the Multiple sclerosis disease from advancing but may also restore lost function in many Multiple sclerosis patients. – A drug which was developed in Cambridge and initially designed to treat a form of leukaemia has also proven effective against combating the debilitating neurological disease multiple sclerosis (MS).
US FDA Approves Updated Labeling for Psoriasis Drug Raptiva by Genentech; Safety concerns drove labeling changes. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced labeling changes, including a Boxed Warning, to highlight the risks of life-threatening infections, including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), with the use of Raptiva (efalizumab).
Allergic rhinitis or hay fever or seasonal allergy can be treated with self adjusted dosing of intranasal corticosteroid triamcinolone acetonide. – Hay fever, the often seasonal allergy that affects between 10 and 20 percent of the American population, is best controlled through a course of patient-adjusted dosing, according to new research published in the September 2008 edition of Otolaryngology ? Head and Neck Surgery.
Friendly? bacteria in stomach protect against type 1 diabetes, Yale researchers find. – In a dramatic illustration of the potential for microbes to prevent disease, researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago showed that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria were protected against the development of Type I diabetes.
Bad teeth, bleeding gums and poor dental hygiene can end up causing heart disease, revealed by researchers at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin. – People with poor dental hygiene and those who don’t brush their teeth regularly end up with bleeding gums, which provide an entry to the bloodstream for up to 700 different types of bacteria found in our mouths.
A study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers states that women exposed to negative life events are at greater risk of breast cancer. – Happiness and optimism may play a role against breast cancer while adverse life events can increase the risk of developing the disease – breast cancer, according to a study by Professor Ronit Peled, at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.
FDA approved Amgen’s Nplate (romiplostim), the first product that directly stimulates the bone marrow to produce needed platelets in patients with a rare blood disorder ITP that can lead to serious bleeding. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Nplate (romiplostim), the first product that directly stimulates the bone marrow to produce needed platelets in patients with a rare blood disorder that can lead to serious bleeding.
Contraceptive pills may cause change in women’s natural ability to choose a right partner, result in difficulties when trying to conceive, an increased risk of miscarriage and long intervals between pregnancies. – The contraceptive pill may disrupt women’s natural ability to choose a partner genetically dissimilar to themselves, research at the Universities of Liverpool and Newcastle has found.
The final results of Phase I Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA)-based AIDS vaccine trial conducted at the Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC) in Chennai are promising. – A second Phase I AIDS vaccine clinical trial in India was successfully completed, the Indian Council of Medical Research, the National AIDS Control Organization and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative announced.
