Word: interferons
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...order to treat AIDS effectively. In addition to eliminating the virus, they must rebuild the patient's ravaged immune system. That may turn out to be the most difficult goal to achieve; researchers have had little success so far with such natural immune boosters as alpha and gamma interferon. Indeed, AIDS therapy may ultimately prove to be most effective in patients whose immune systems are not yet destroyed -- those who show only early symptoms of the disease or perhaps are symptomless carriers. With drugs like AZT, says Broder, "it might be possible to prevent the onset of AIDS. That...
...licensed Chiron's technology for the new product, will sell the hepatitis B vaccine under the name Recombivax HB. The vaccine will join a handful of pioneering products of recombinant DNA, or gene splicing, that have reached the market, including human insulin (1982), human growth hormone (1985) and alpha interferon (1986). The FDA approval of Recombivax HB is expected to give a big boost to the public image of an industry that has been more promising than profitable. Said Chiron President Edward Penhoet: "We think this vaccine will usher in a whole new generation of vaccines...
Scientists hope AZT will interrupt this process by preventing the HTLV-III virus from latching onto the genetic material and multiplying, while they hope alpha interferon will keep the viruses from leaving the white blood cell and attacking others. Hirsch is hopeful about the two drugs, both of which have already been shown effective in the laboratory. But there are some indicators that AZT may hold more promise, he and others...
Unlike alpha interferon, AZT can pass through the blood-brain barrier and counteract HTLV-III viruses that have invaded the brain. This may be vital to any successful anti-viral substance that is developed, Hirsch says, because otherwise the virus will simply sequester itself in the brain, the spinal cord, and the peripheral nerves. However, he says that alpha interferon--which is known to be useful in combatting some AIDS-related cancers--may prove valuable in combination with other anti-viral drugs. "[AZT] may turn out to be more useful," he says, "although I don't think we should jump...
...Richard G. Marlink, a research fellow in Groopman's laboratory. To be effective AZT must be taken orally every four hours continuously. "Even if it's having any effect, it may be something a patient will have to use the rest of his life," Marlink says. Still, alpha interferon and AZT, are the two most promising drugs around at present, better than those researchers--including Groopman--have tested before such as the much-touted suramin, Marlink says...