Chemical from Medicinal Plants May Be Used to Fight HIV

piggy submitted, created time 1 month 3 weeks (www.sciencedaily.com)

Like other kinds of cells, immune cells lose the ability to divide as they age because a part of their chromosomes known as a telomere becomes progressively shorter with cell division. As a result, the cell changes in many ways, and its disease fighting ability is compromised.

But a new UCLA AIDS Institute study has found that a chemical from the Astragalus root, frequently used in Chinese herbal therapy, can prevent or slow this progressive telomere shortening, which could make it a key weapon in the fight against HIV

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Preliminary outcomes of a paediatric highly active antiretroviral therapy cohort from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Scarlett submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.biomedcentral.com)

In multivariate analysis of baseline variables against mortality using Cox proportional-hazards model, chronic gastroenteritis was associated with death [hazard ratio (HR), 12.34; 95%CI, 1.27-119.71) and an HIV-positive primary caregiver was found to be protective against mortality [HR, 0.12; 95%CI, 0.02-0.88). Age, orphanhood, baseline CD4%, and hemoglobin were not predicators of mortality in our cohort. Fifty-two percent of the cohort had at least one HIV-positive primary caregiver, and 38.4% had at least one primary caregiver also on HAART at Sinikithemba clinic.

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The Clock is Ticking: AIDS in America

BIOBOSS submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.jhsph.edu)

On the occasion of World AIDS Day, David Holtgrave, an expert on U.S. HIV prevention programs, addresses the state of AIDS in America. Twenty-five years into the epidemic, there are an estimated 40,000 new cases each year in the U.S.

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Micronutrients in HIV-positive persons receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy

athena submitted, created time 1 year 10 months (www.ajcn.org)

In HIV-infected persons, low serum concentrations of vitamins and minerals, termed micronutrients, are associated with an increased risk of HIV disease progression and mortality.

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