ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512070075
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
After a long search, researchers have discovered AIDS-virus suppressors that the body produces naturally, possibly opening the door to new treatments.
Scientists have long known that white blood cells called CD8 cells secrete one or more substances that hamper the virus' efforts to reproduce and infect cells. But they hadn't been able to find out what the suppressing substances were.
Two research teams say they've found some answers. One identified three substances that dramatically reduce HIV's ability to infect cells in test tubes. The second team found that an unrelated protein from CD8 cells restrains the virus' reproduction in test tube experiments.
Scientists hope to find a way to use the substances to control the body's HIV levels for long periods, maybe indefinitely, prolonging the years that infected people can stay healthy.
Although HIV-infected people produce anti-viral CD8 secretions naturally, prior research shows that the levels decline as the immune system deteriorates.
One of the research teams, from Germany, reports its results in today's issue of the journal Nature. The other, publishing in the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Science, includes prominent AIDS researcher Dr. Robert Gallo of the Institute for Human Virology, part of the University of Maryland at Baltimore. He was with the National Cancer Institute at the time of the research.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said both papers are important. He also said it's no surprise that the two teams had different findings because ``it would have been really astounding'' if only one CD8 secretion suppressed HIV.
Fauci said the important questions now are how the substances suppress HIV and whether the test-tube results can lead to a workable therapy for people.
The substances had been known before for doing other jobs.
Dr. Reinhard Kurth, president of the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen, Germany, and his colleagues report that a protein called interleukin-16 sharply reduced HIV replication in test tubes.
Kurth said that in people, interleukin-16 might someday be combined with drugs to attack the virus at different stages of reproduction. If no new virus is made, the body's level of HIV will fall, giving the immune system a better chance to keep it under control, he said. But the virus would probably still not be eliminated, he said.
The Science paper reports that three other substances from CD8 cells dramatically suppress HIV's ability to infect cells in test tubes. The substances are called RANTES, MIP-1-alpha and MIP-1-beta.
Gallo said the substances are very powerful and work in low concentrations. Scientists might be able to use them for treatment either by administering them or getting the body to produce more of them, he said.
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