U.S. researchers report successfully testing two candidate vaccines that may eventually be used together to protect against HIV infection.
Dr. Barney Graham and colleagues from the National Institutes of Health Vaccine Research Center, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and GenVec Inc. tested two possible HIV vaccines with the hope of producing an immune response in healthy, uninfected adults.
One candidate was a plasmid DNA-based vaccine expressing genes from three dominant HIV subtypes, and the second used recombinant adenovirus serotype 5 (rAd5) as a vector to deliver similar HIV strains.
Both vaccines were tested in healthy, uninfected adult volunteers. The DNA vaccine was found safe and well-tolerated. By the 12th week following immunization, 97.5 percent of vaccinees experienced positive CD4 T cell responses and 40 percent experienced positive CD8 T cell responses.
The recombinant vector vaccine was also well-tolerated but higher doses led to adverse events such as pain and fever. By the fourth week following immunization, 93.3 percent of vaccinees experienced positive CD4 T cell responses, and 60 percent experienced positive CD8 T cell responses.
The study is detailed in the Dec. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Giving an additional early vaccination may reduce measles outbreaks
Outbreaks of measles in developing countries may be reduced by vaccinating infants at 4.5 months of age as well as at the World Health Organization's recommended routine vaccination at 9 months, according to a study published on BMJ.com today.
Viral recombination another way HIV fools the immune system
When individuals infected with HIV become infected with a second strain of the virus, the two viral strains can exchange genetic information, creating a third, recombinant strain of the virus. It is known that the presence of multiple viral strains, called superinfection, frequently leads to a loss of immune control of viral levels. Now a study from the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (PARC/MGH) shows that how and where viral strains swap DNA may be determined by the immune response against the original infecting strain. Their report will appear in the
Journal of Experimental Medicine and has been released online.
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.
Researchers: Program discourages HIV transmission in Russia
(Boston)-Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) found that sexual behavior counseling during drug addiction treatment should be considered an important component among Russian substance-dependent individuals, in order to decrease risky sexual behavior in the HIV at-risk population. This study appears in the journal
Addiction.
Study finds unique HIV vaccine formula elicits strong immune responses
Today, Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. and the University of Massachusetts Medical School report that their unique HIV vaccine formulation was effective in eliciting strong and balanced immune responses in healthy human volunteers.
HIV breakthrough: Researchers identify protein that fights immunodeficiency
A Canada-U.S. research team has solved a major genetic mystery: How a protein in some people’s DNA guards them against killer immune diseases such as HIV. In an advance online edition of
Nature Medicine, the scientists explain how the protein, FOX03a, shields against viral attacks and how the discovery will help in the development of a HIV vaccine.
Lack of political will and the subordination of women are major barriers to tackling AIDS
Denial, myths, complacency, lack of political will and the subordination of women are major obstacles in the fight against HIV and AIDS. And with no cure or vaccine in sight, scaling up prevention is of paramount importance, according to Professor Lars Kallings, a leading expert in the global fight against the world’s first modern pandemic.
'Good bacteria' in women give clues for slowing HIV transmission
Beneficial bacteria found in healthy women help to reduce the amount of vaginal HIV among HIV-infected women and make it more difficult for the virus to spread, boosting the possibility that “good bacteria” might someday be tapped in the fight against HIV.