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HIV Particles Susceptible to Bee Venom

Toxin from bee venom has been shown by a recent study to kill HIV when delivered by nanoparticles. The best part is that these nanoparticles allowed researchers to target the HIV and leave surrounding cells unscathed. What is the goal for researchers with this study? They want to create a gel for women that could potentially stop HIV from spreading from person to person via sexual relations.

In some countries, HIV is a common scourge. The idea is to use such a gel in a preventative capacity. Mellitin is the toxin found in bee venom that has researchers feeling hopeful. It can break through the defenses of HIV particles. Researchers have not only used mellitin in anti-viral research, but also in cancer research because of the potent ability of the toxin to destroy cells.

The way researchers were able to use nanoparticles to deliver the toxin only to the HIV particles is through the creation of protective bumpers on the surface of the nanoparticles. These bumpers are too close together to allow regular cells to come into contact with the toxin. The significantly smaller HIV cells fit right between the bumpers and are destroyed.

While most HIV drugs merely fight to keep the disease from replicating, this toxin can actually destroy the envelope that normally keeps HIV particles safe from all attacks. This envelope adapts to protect the virus from various substances, but the toxin can successfully destroy the coating because it attacks all membranes with double layers – thus hepatitis is another disease that could be attacked using this method (both B and C types).

Another suggested use for the gel besides the prevention of HIV could be in helping couples where only one partner has HIV to conceive naturally without risk to the healthy partner. The gel would only target HIV, not sperm.

The initial experiments were performed in a laboratory, but it would not be very expensive to create enough of the mellitin anti-virus compound to perform clinical trials should the idea reach that stage.

Teens with HIV Benefit from Early Treatment

A study involving teens infected with HIV has shown that the earlier treatment starts, the better longer term results are achieved. In fact, early infancy is not too soon for antiretroviral treatment to begin. Research has revealed that when treatment begins in early infancy, stores of HIV can’t be built up in the body. It is important to prevent these stores from occurring because they are responsible for fast progression of the disease should there be a break in treatment.

Nine teenagers were involved in the study. Five began antiretroviral treatments at just two months of age, while the other four were older when their treatments began. Blood tests revealed that the virus was not as able to reproduce successfully within the five teens who started treatment at a younger age. Also, no stores for the disease were found in them, whereas detectable stores were found in the other four teens who had started treatment later. The teens who started treatment early also had more HIV-specific antibodies.

This study comes in the wake of an infant whose HIV appears to be in full remission after starting treatment just 30 hours out of the womb. This builds a strong case for starting treatment as early as possible for children born with HIV. Obviously the ultimate goal for researchers is to develop therapies that will keep children from getting the disease from their mother in the first place, and further research continues in this regard.

In lieu of such a treatment, researchers are looking to investigate further the long-term suppression of HIV by introducing antiretroviral treatments in the first three months of life. It’s looking ever more likely that the rule of thumb will become “the sooner the better”.

HIV’s Protein Disguise Unveiled

A recent study has revealed that HIV-1 hijacks 25 different proteins in the body in order to cover its replication and hide from the immune system. It is hoped that the results of this study will help in research for better treatment options and diagnostic tools.

When leaving an infected cell, HIV particles encase themselves in proteins to disguise themselves from the immune system. While it’s believed that some of these proteins are selected with a specific purpose, others may simply be random proteins that get caught up in the guise.

Drug companies would like to target HIV particles by using the specific proteins to find them – the problem is that the HIV particles utilize so many different specific proteins that it would be impossible to hunt them all individually. This research hopes to narrow down the number of targets by figuring out which proteins are most vital to the survival of HIV particles.

Researchers hope to examine proteins from the cells that HIV most likes to hide in, such as T-cells and macrophages, in order to discover the proper target proteins. While HIV uses hundreds of proteins to mask its spread, only 25 of these proteins are held in common by the two most frequently infected immune system cell types.

CD44 seems to be one of these key proteins – of the 25 examined it is the only protein that can bind other cells to itself. This allows the virus to latch onto inflamed areas within the body. Macrophages and T-cells (the cells that HIV is most likely to travel through) are both used by the immune system to deal with inflammation. Thus HIV uses the body’s own defense system to infiltrate deeper and spread more rapidly – immune cells carry HIV particles to inflamed areas, and proteins like CD44 disguise the virus and allow it to latch on to the inflamed cells.

HIV Stunts Emotion Recognition

Recent studies have shown that it is more difficult for a person with HIV to effectively read the emotional expressions of others than for those who do not. Those suffering recall loss found it difficult to discern fear on a person’s face, while those who were suffering from reduced neurocognitive performance found it difficult to discern whether or not a person was happy.

Many parts of the brain are involved in interpreting emotions via facial expression, for example the amygdala (controls emotions and memory) and the frontostriatal pathway (for learning and adapting to behavior patterns) – without these function it becomes difficult to interact with others, and this can have a strong impact on a person’s day to day activities.

HIV patients in general were weakest at identifying fear in the expressions of others, while in particular those who had a greater progression of the disease and had suffered from pneumonia, TB, and other health conditions were far less able to recognize happiness.

While antiretrovirals have done much to reduce the neurological effects of HIV, it is clear that some damage still occurs – this research is therefore a key part in recognizing the need for continuing research in the combating of HIV’s neurological effects.

There are six basic and easily recognizable emotions humans are able to express with their face – besides the two that we have discussed here (fear and happiness) there are also disgust, anger, surprise, and sadness.

As you can imagine, losing the ability to distinguish between these emotions in the face of another human is a significant event that can make it difficult to interact with others, and may well encourage a person to seek isolation. Finding a way to stave off these mental effects of HIV is a critical matter in maintaining the quality of life of patients – recognition that this occurs is the first step.

Children with Fewer Resources get a Less Effective HIV Treatment

A large scale study has revealed that children between the ages of 3 and 16 fare better taking the HIV drug efavirenz than nevirapine. The study included over 800 HIV positive kids. The problem is that efavirenz, the more effective of the two drugs, is the less used drug in countries where the disease is most prominent. Unfortunately, most of those infected kids live in underdeveloped lands, and that is why they receive the inferior treatment.

Over 3 million kids around the globe have HIV, and more than 9 in 10 of those are found in sub-Saharan Africa, where government resources are limited. WHO is recommending both of the aforementioned drugs as a first attack on the disease when children are involved. This would involve a worldwide change in care, as efavirenz is far more expensive and less readily available than nevirapine.

The fact is that regardless of the cost, nevirapine gets better results in kids – thus it calls on agencies to assist in making the drug more readily available to underprivileged children who are infected with HIV in resource-limited nations. This process is already in effect with adults, who also react better to nevirapine.

Bulk orders for low resource countries may be the key to getting enough of the drugs to the right places at the right price. Non-government agencies are being called upon to assist in making this a more viable option for these millions of needy children.

The nation of Botswana is a fine example of a low-resource nation that has worked hard to provide better treatment options for citizens with HIV, by being involved in clinical studies. They have also provided a great deal of research on other diseases like tuberculosis. Thus, the nation has actually helped to improve health for not only their own citizens, but those of the entire world.

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