PORTLAND, Ore. Researchers have published a new study this week suggesting an important component of the immune system damaged by AIDS can possibly be replaced. Specifically, researchers at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have been able to promote T-cell regeneration in a study involving rhesus macaque monkeys. The research is printed in the current edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

As previous research has demonstrated, HIV attacks the host's immune system, including an important category of T cells critical for fighting infection called CD4+ T cells. The virus specifically destroys those CD4+ T cells that reside in the tissues of the body like the intestine and lung that interface with the outside environment. As HIV replicates in the human body, the tissue levels of CD4+ T cells are killed and, when the number of these cells drop below a certain level, a patient develops AIDS. At this point, the patient's immune system is weakened enough to allow infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that are normally held at bay by a healthy human body. The infected body's inability to fight off these "intruders," leads to death.

"To learn more about HIV, its impacts and possible treatments, we study simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a close relative of HIV that infects and causes AIDS in nonhuman primates," explained the study's lead author Louis Picker, M.D. Picker serves as director of the VGTI's vaccine program and associate director of the VGTI. He is also a professor of pathology, and molecular microbiology and immunology in the OHSU School of Medicine; and director of the Division of Pathobiology and Immunology at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center.

"What we were able to discover using SIV-infected monkeys was that a certain naturally occurring protein called interleukin-15 (IL-15) caused a dramatic restoration of tissue CD4+ T cel
'"/>

Contact: Jim Newman
newmanj@ohsu.edu
503-494-8231
Oregon Health & Science University
8-Jun-2006

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Stanford researchers find culprit in aging muscles that heal poorly
2. UCLA researchers awarded $9M contract for study identifiying antibiotic treatment for MRSA
3. Penn researchers discover novel pathway for increasing good cholesterol
4. Theory of facial aging gets a facelift from UT Southwestern researchers
5. UIC researchers to develop new drugs to fight bioterrorism
6. UQ researchers discover some of the oldest forms of life
7. U of M researchers discover new method to combat HIV
8. U of M researchers assess effectiveness of computerized physician order entry system
9. Nepalese researchers identify cost-effective treatment for drug-resistant typhoid
10. Physician-researchers often less successful in obtaining NIH funding
11. UCLA researchers develop new nanomaterials to deliver anti-cancer drugs to cells