 |
|
Personalized immunotherapy to fight HIV/AIDS
August 18, 2008For a long time, the main obstacle to creating an AIDS vaccine has been the high genetic variability of the HIV virus. Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy and his team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), in collaboration with Dr. Rafick Sékaly from the Université de Montréal, have overcome this difficulty by designing a personalized immunotherapy for HIV-infected patients. The team's findings were presented on August 5 at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.
"Our approach is unique in the world: no one else has yet developed customized immunotherapy using the virus from individual patients," said Dr. Routy. "This experimental technique remains long and costly for the moment, but we're hoping it will hold the promise of a completely innovative and widely available treatment in the future."
This immunotherapy is based on the properties of dendritic cells, whose role is to present specific proteins from infectious organisms at their surface, thereby alerting the rest of the immune system. In collaboration with Argos Therapeutics, the researchers designed a study in which the dendritic cells of nine study patients were multiplied in vitro and then treated with the RNA (ribonucleic acid) from the virus that had infected each patient. A virus sample was taken before the administration of any antiretroviral treatment.
The surfaces of these manipulated dendritic cells present an increased number of HIV proteins, which allows them to stimulate the cytotoxic response of a certain type of immune cell called CD8+ lymphocytes. After receiving multiple subcutaneous injections of these dendritic cells, eight of the nine patients involved experienced a significant increase in CD8+ lymphocyte activity.
"At this stage, we have shown that the technique doesn't cause side effects or an undesirable auto-immune response," said Dr. Routy. "Health Canada has approved a multicentre clinical trial across the country that will let us further assess the technique's effectiveness at controlling HIV reproduction. We're hoping that the FDA in the United States will also give us the go-ahead soon so that our pharmaceutical partner, Argos Therapeutics, can begin testing in the United States."
While more research needs to be done, this new target may lead to an innovative therapeutic approach to fight the AIDS pandemic.
McGill University Health Centre
The surfaces of these manipulated dendritic cells present an increased number of HIV proteins, which allows them to stimulate the cytotoxic response of a certain type of immune cell called CD8+ lymphocytes. After receiving multiple subcutaneous injections of these dendritic cells, eight of the nine patients involved experienced a significant increase in CD8+ lymphocyte activity.
"At this stage, we have shown that the technique doesn't cause side effects or an undesirable auto-immune response," said Dr. Routy. "Health Canada has approved a multicentre clinical trial across the country that will let us further assess the technique's effectiveness at controlling HIV reproduction. We're hoping that the FDA in the United States will also give us the go-ahead soon so that our pharmaceutical partner, Argos Therapeutics, can begin testing in the United States."
While more research needs to be done, this new target may lead to an innovative therapeutic approach to fight the AIDS pandemic.
McGill University Health Centre
Immunotherapy Current Events and Immunotherapy News RSSDrinking milk to ease milk allergy?
Giving children with milk allergies increasingly higher doses of milk over time may ease, and even help them completely overcome, their allergic reactions, according to the results of a study led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and conducted jointly with Duke University.
Chronic inflammation can help nurture skin cancer, study shows
Inflammation, a frontline defense against infection or disease, can help nurture skin cancer, researchers have found.
Scripps research scientists enhance immune system attacks on cancer
In an Early Edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published online on October 20, 2008, the scientists describe how they used multiple tactics to rev up both innate and adaptive immunity to enhance the body's ability to fight cancer.
Children's National researchers develop novel anti-tumor vaccine
A novel anti-tumor vaccine for neuroblastoma and melanoma developed by scientists and clinicians at Children's National Medical Center in collaboration with investigators from the University of Iowa is showing significant impact on tumor growth in mice.
OHSU Cancer Institute researcher: radiation, immunotherapy gives greater effectiveness
Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found the right formula of radiation and immunotherapy for fighting lung cancer tumors in mice, which they hope will translate to better treatment in human lung cancers.
New hope for stroke patients
If a stroke patient doesn't get treatment within approximately the first three hours of symptoms, there's not much doctors can do to limit damage to the brain.
UT Pathologists Believe They Have Pinpointed Achilles Heel of HIV
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the virus that continues to kill millions.
Allergy expert has advice for flood victims
As if the emotional and financial impact of flood damage isn't bad enough, floodwaters can also bring health problems. H. James Wedner, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says after the water recedes, damp homes and businesses are fertile grounds for mold growth, which can cause allergic reactions and asthmatic symptoms in sensitive people.
The latest research on allergies: Specific immunotherapy can help
he German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care has assessed recent evidence on allergies. It found that the once controversial immune therapy against allergy symptoms can definitely help many people with allergies.
Researchers find first conclusive evidence of Alzheimer's-like brain tangles in nonhuman primates
Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have discovered the first conclusive evidence of Alzheimer's-like neurofibrillary brain tangles in an aged nonhuman primate.
More Immunotherapy Current Events and Immunotherapy News Articles
 | Allergens and Allergen Immunotherapy, Fourth Edition (Clinical Allergy and Immunology) Compiling the research of an influential team of investigators and scientists, Allergens and Allergen Immunotherapy is filled with quick reference charts, tables, and indexes. Allergists, immunologists, and otolaryngologists will find this new streamlined fourth edition a great practical reference for on-the-go diagnosis, treatment, and management of... |
 | Allergens and Allergen Immunotherapy (Clinical Allergy and Immunology) by Samuel C. Bukantz Enlarged to describe more than a decade of advances in the immunotherapy of allergic diseases and asthma, this Third Edition contains the most recent studies on the mechanisms, manufacture, and standardization of various allergen groups and their utilization in the treatment of allergic diseases-containing 8 new chapters detailing various pharmacoeconomic, regulatory, manufacturing,... |
 | Cancer Immunotherapy: Immune Suppression and Tumor Growth by George C. Prendergast There has been major growth in understanding immune suppression mechanisms and its relationship to cancer progression and therapy. This book highlights emerging new principles of immune suppression that drive cancer and it offers radically new ideas about how therapy can be improved by attacking these principles. Following work that firmly establishes immune escape as an essential trait of... |
 | The Low Dose Immunotherapy Handbook: Recipes and Lifestlye Advice for Patients on LDA and EPD Treatment by Nicolette, M Dumke The Low Dose Immunotherapy Handbook: Recipes and Lifestyle Tips for Patients on LDA and EPD Treatment gives 80 recipes for patients on low dose immunotherapy treatment for their food allergies. These recipes are for the basic shot time (EPD) diet and the very mixed diet, and include baked goods, main dishes, and side dishes as well as allowable snacks, desserts and treats that make these diets... |
 | DNA-Pharmaceuticals: Formulation and Delivery in Gene Therapy, DNA Vaccination and Immunotherapy With its focus on a completely novel class of pharmaceuticals, this book collates the hitherto scarce literature about DNA drug formulation keenly desired by biotechnologists, molecular biologists and pharmacists, as well as those working in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries. As such, this volume presents a wide range of gene delivery systems needed for different therapeutic... |
 | Cancer Immunotherapy, Volume 90 (Advances in Immunology) by James Allison, Glen Dranoff For some time immunotherapy has been heralded as a breakthrough approach for cancer treatment. Although the potential of this strategy remains solid, the approach needs considerable refinement. Whilst some programmes are looking to increase the understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the stimulation of antitumor immunity, others are trying to find the most appropriate... |
| Another first for Dermatology Nursing.(From The Editor)(nurses study immunotherapy)(Editorial): An article from: Dermatology Nursing by Marcia J. Hill This digital document is an article from Dermatology Nursing, published by Jannetti Publications, Inc. on August 1, 2003. The length of the article is 582 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation... | |
| Allergens & Allergen Immunotherapy (Allergic Disease and Therapy) by R. F. Lockey Univ. of South Florida, Tampa. Revised and expanded version of the previous edition: Allergen Immunotherapy, c1991. Includes detailed descriptions of various allergen groups and recent research in the field. For researchers and... | |
 | Cell Therapy: Stem Cell Transplantation, Gene Therapy, and Cellular Immunotherapy (Cancer: Clinical Science in Practice) This volume examines the current state and future prospects of cell therapy. The coverage is broad, including the scientific principles of hematopoietic cell therapy, the technology of cell collection and preparation, current and likely future clinical applications of cell therapy (including treatment of AIDS), and the principles and practice of cellular... |
 | Immunotherapy of Cancer (Cancer Drug Discovery and Development) Expert bench and clinical scientists join forces to concurrently review both the state-of-the-art in tumor immunology and its clinical translation into promising practical treatments. The authors explain in each chapter the scientific basis behind such therapeutic agents as monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, vaccines, and T-cells, and illustrate their clinical manipulation to combat cancer.... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |