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AIDS – Researchers from the Pasteur Institute destroy HIV reservoirs

A team from the Pasteur Institute in Paris has found a way to eliminate HIV reservoirs, paving the way for potential new treatments, but there is still a long way to go before the results, which were obtained using cell cultures, are used in humans.

Current HIV treatments need to be taken for life because antiretroviral drugs are not able to eliminate the viral reservoirs inside immune cells.   “Antiretroviral treatment will block the virus and act to prevent it from multiplying, but it cannot eliminate infected cells.  Here, our job involved characterizing infected cells and then eliminating them from an organism infected by HIV” explained leading researcher, Asier Saez-Cirion.

The Pasteur Institute team succeeded in identifying the characteristics of CD4 T lymphocytes, the immune cells targeted by HIV.  Their study shows that the virus will first infect cells with a high rate of metabolic activity.  This activity, and in particular a cell’s glucose consumption, plays a key role in infection: the virus diverts the energy and substances produced by the cell in order to replicate.  This requirement could be harnessed to attack reservoir cells.  The results are published in Cell Metabolism.

HIV infection blocked in cell cultures

The Pasteur researchers managed to block infection ex vivo (in cell cultures) thanks to metabolic inhibitors already used in oncology/cancerology.  “In our study we observed that those cells infected by HIV had (bio-)energetic characteristics similar to tumor cells, and we could therefore use the same tools” explained Dr Saez-Cirion.  The next step for the team at the Pasteur Institute will consist in “identifying the molecules which provide an optimal effect, after which pre-clinical trials on models will be undertaken, based on experience from current clinical trials on the treatment of certain types of cancer, in order to select molecules that are efficacious and well-tolerated by patients,” the researcher added.

This work is a step towards patient remission (no further detectable infected cells) thanks to the elimination of HIV reservoirs.  However, “it will be a few years until this approach can be properly tested in a phase 3 clinical trial which would give us an evaluation of its efficacy” Dr Saez-Cirion specified.

1. Voici le document autour du glossaire.
2. Traduction de l’article sur le vaccin :

HIV: Is an AIDS vaccine possible?

Everybody dreams/is dreaming about a vaccine for AIDS.  And now trials published by researchers from Harvard bring new hope. Their experimental vaccine was able to protect monkeys and cause an immune reaction in humans.

According to the World Health Organization about 37 million people worldwide are currently living with HIV or AIDS.  No less than 1.8 million new cases are reported each year.  Since the early eighties the disease is thought to have (/has reportedly) killed almost 35 million people.  And despite increasingly effective treatments a vaccine still doesn’t exist for this scourge.

Worse still, in 35 years of this epidemic only one experimental vaccine has shown any efficacy.   During the RV144 trial carried out in Thailand from 2003 on(wards) the immune response was prepared by the administration of a recombinant vector CanaryPox then boosted by (the) injection of the envelope protein gp120.  As a result, infection rate was seen to decline by 31%, which was interesting, but judged to be insufficient.

But today, researchers from Harvard have reported encouraging new developments.  The experimental vaccine they developed triggered an immune reaction in humans and protected monkeys from the infection.  “These results are crucial.  They must however be considered with the utmost prudence.  An immune response doesn’t necessarily mean that this vaccine is able to protect us from HIV (infection)” warned Professor Dan Barouch.

Large-scale trials already underway

What has caused great enthusiasm is the fact that the vaccine is a mosaic vaccine, which combines different HIV subtypes and is therefore likely to trigger responses against a large number of strains.  Indeed, the results show it is 67% effective in monkeys.  Here again, the reaction was primed by (an) intramuscular injection of Ad26.Mos.HIV.  The response was then stimulated later on by the administration of two additional vaccines including a combination of Ad26.Mos.HIV and gp140.

In humans: The study reports on the results of a test carried out on 393 healthy adults who were all seronegative, aged 18 to 50, and from East Africa, South Africa, Thailand and The United States.  Between February and October 2015, they received four injections of one of the combined vaccines or a placebo.  According to Professor Barouch, the immune response was “robust’.  Another good sign was that the vaccine was shown to be harmless.

A large-scale test still needs to be carried out to gauge the true efficacy of the vaccine.  The test is already in the starting blocks and will involve 2600 women judged to be at risk in Southern Africa.  The results are not expected before 2021 or 2022.

Voici une traduction pour le texte du contrôle du 13 décembre :

It’s bad news for tall people.  According to scientists from the University of Lund in Sweden, tall people have a higher risk of getting blood clots.  In a study carried out on more than two million brothers and sisters, they observed a lower risk for clotting in men and women smaller than 160cm and 155cm respectively.  The overall risk was reduced by 60 percent compared to subjects taller than 185cm.  The authors stated that “height is an independent indicator of venous thromboembolism.”

A blood clot can partially or totally block a major vein in the legs or thighs and cause phlebitis.  Superficial phlebitis (when the circulation is blocked in a small vein, leading to pain and discomfort) is not serious in itself, but is a risk factor for deep phlebitis, and the latter is an emergency because the clot which is blocking the blood flow in a deep or large calibre vein can break loose and migrate into the circulation and cause a pulmonary embolism (when the clot lodges itself in the pulmonary artery), and this is a serious and potentially fatal accident.  Among the warning signs in cases of phlebitis are: a red, warm, or hard vein, or one whose relief makes it clearly visible on the surface.  It is also painful or sensitive to touch.

1. How much weight should people lose to defeat type 2 diabetes?  15kg
2. At what time does dim-light melatonin onset generally begin?   8 pm
3. What is becoming more common in the over 50s?  HIV infection
4. How many countries in Europe have “eliminated” measles? 33
5. Researchers in Spain linked atherosclerosis with what?  Skipping breakfast
6. What has been linked to substance abuse in teenagers?  Vegetarian diet in pregnancy
7. What percentage of children in the UK are thought to be obese?  10%
8. According to one study how should pregnant women not sleep?  On their back
9. Psilocybin helped 19 patients with what?  Depression
10. Who should you call in the UK if you are thinking about self-harming?  The Samaritans
11. Mushrooms make you feel fuller than what according to a US study?  Minced beef
12. The Daily Mail said there are how many ‘breast cancer genes’?  180
13. Loughorough university researchers believe that what might lower the risk of dementia?  Marriage
14. How do US researchers aim to evaluate the risk of dementia?  Blood test in Middle age
15. Night-time eating might lead to what?  Heart disease
16. What type of wounds heal faster?  Daytime
17. The BBC reported that Scottish researchers have found that what is bad for children?    Grandparents
18. What might prevent rheumatoid arthritis?  Vit D
19. How many cups of coffee per day can bring health benefits?  3-4
20. What childhood disease has returned to the UK?    Scarlet Fever

Energy drinks could weaken the heart

Energy drinks have been around for a few decades, but have really taken off in recent years.  As their name suggests they give a boost of energy, usually due to several psychoactive substances they contain which improve attention and concentration and reduce the feeling of tiredness.  They are not the same thing as sports energy drinks which contain nutritional substances vital for sports performance.

For a while now, public health authorities have been concerned about the effects of excessive consumption of some of the substances in energy drinks, including caffeine and taurine which, in high doses, might lead to heart problems or anxiety.

One by one, institutions are condemning the dangers of excessive consumption of this sort of drink, in particular when they are consumed with alcohol.  Now a team from Friedrich Wilhelm University in Bonn have presented their work at the annual congress of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in which they demonstrate the effects of a single drink on the heart.

Lower contractile function after one energy drink

“Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated a link between the consumption of energy drinks and heart problems,” said Jonas Dörner, director of the study.  “But none has shown the effects they have on heart function.”  So he and his team undertook this job.  Thanks to MRI the scientists were able to observe cardiac function in 15 healthy participants aged 27 ½ on average.  They took images of the heart before and one hour after absorption of an energy drink containing 400mg/100ml of taurine, and 32mg/100ml of caffeine.

When they looked at the images of the heart, the study’s authors observed increased cardiac tension in the left ventricle after consumption of the energy drink.  This part of the heart receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and sends it into the aorta which then distributes it to the rest of the body.  However, the researchers did not note any difference in heart rate, blood pressure, nor in the rate of blood pumped by the left ventricle.  In contrast, the heart showed lower contractile function after consumption of the beverage.

“Additional studies are now needed to understand the mechanism and to determine how long it lasts,” the researcher said.  “We also want to evaluate the effect of regular consumption of these energy drinks on heart function.” For the present, the study’s authors recommend that children and the frail abstain from consuming such products.

Diabetes and endocrine disruptors: beware of chemical pollutants

Many studies have pointed to the role that some chemical products, like bisphenol A (BPA), dioxins and phthalates, play in the rapid increase in the number of people with diabetes.

It all began with diethylstilbestrol, a drug given to pregnant women up until the middle of the seventies, which caused malformations and cancer in some children.  Less well-known is the fact that people exposed in their mothers’ wombs also developed diabetes as adults twice more than average.

Since the worldwide type 2 diabetes epidemic seems difficult to explain by genetics, which have not evolved quickly enough, or by changes in lifestyle (physical inactivity, unbalanced diet) it raised suspicion.  To find out more, researchers carried out laboratory experiments.

They observed that by when they gave very small doses of diethylstilbestrol or BPA of pregnant rats or mice, their offspring became obese then diabetic.  The same thing happened with pesticides like DDT, dioxins or some phthalates, the molecules which are found in plastics.  What these products have in common is that they affect the way hormones work (which is why they are called endocrine disruptors), but they also interfere with the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats.

As far as humans are concerned, other studies have increased our suspicions.  First of all there are the consequences of accidental exposure, such as the explosion of a factory in Seveso in Italy in 1976 which produced a giant cloud of dioxins: girls who were contaminated had diabetes three times more frequently than the rest of the population when they were adults.

But the most tangible results come from longitudinal studies from the USA, Canada or Scandinavia, where those most exposed to endocrine disruptors in the past were also those who had most often ended up with metabolic disorders and diabetes.

Beware of these chemical pollutants.  It cannot be denied that they have “obesogenic” or “diabetogenic” properties.  Discussions are being held at European level to limit their use and people’s exposure to them.

Meanwhile, pregnant women at least should take precautions: avoid tins and cans, which are all lined with BPA, as are containers and plastic films in microwave ovens, choose organic food whenever possible, don’t repaint the nursery, and avoid handling pesticides during pregnancy.

WHO to test antimalarial vaccine in Africa

Mosquirix, which will be tested between 2018 and 2020 does not provide full protection against the plasmodium parasite, but it reduces the number of episodes of malaria.

Kenya, Ghana and Malawi are the three African countries chosen by the World Health Organization to test the antimalarial vaccine called Mosquirix, a UN special agency announced on Monday April 24^th.

The WHO aims to vaccinate at least 360 000 children between 2018 and 2020.  Africa is by far the continent with the highest incidence of malaria, representing 92% of the 429 000 deaths from this mosquito-borne disease throughout the world in 2015, according to WHO figures.  Children under 5 make up two-thirds of these deaths.

Developed by a partnership between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the NGO Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative, the vaccine, which is the most advanced against Malaria remains of limited effectiveness.  When combined with diagnostic methods, treatment and tried-and-tested preventive measures, such as mosquito nets treated with mosquito repellents, “the vaccine could save tens of thousands of lives in Africa” in the opinion of Matshidiso Moeti, WHO director for Africa.

Reduce episodes by 40%

In particular, the pilot project should allow them to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine “in a context of day-to-day use” as well as any possible logistical hurdles, according to Mrs Moeti.  It will be a question of raising the awareness of parents about a new program of vaccinations which differs from the traditional child vaccination program (DTP, measles etc.)  Four doses of the vaccine need to be administered when the child is aged 5 months, 6 months, 7 months and two years old.

Mosquirix, which was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in July 2015, does not completely prevent infection by the Plasmodium parasite which causes the disease.  It reduces the number of malaria episodes by 40% over a period of at least four and a half years, according to studies carried out on 15000 people between 2009 and 2014.

The program is part of the efforts introduced since the 1990s to eradicate malaria. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of deaths from this disease fell by 62%.  The WHO hopes to have eliminated the disease by 2040.

Next week (March 29) you will view a pilot episode of a series, and you will have to write a review of what you have seen.

In order to get an idea of how to approach this task, here are a few links to reviews from newspapers and internet sites :

Beyond (Variety.com)

Preacher (Forbes.com)

Travelers (nerdbastards.com)

Westworld (harpersbazaar.com)

Other examples can be found on this page