                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                        May 03, 1994


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


"Theory Tested on Why Body's Defenses Go Haywire in AIDS"
New York Times (05/03/94) P. C3;  Angier, Natalie
     While AIDS gradually breaks down the body's immune system, it 
creates mass confusion at every node of the defense network, as 
some immune cells overreact to the invasion and others fail to 
respond when called.  Now, researchers at Stanford University 
School of Medicine suggest something known as oxidative stress 
may play a critical role in the slow decay of the immune system. 
The damage resulting from too many dangerous oxygen molecules 
banging around inside immune cells, they say, may disrupt the 
cells' performance and ultimately cause them to die.  The 
Stanford scientists believe that an important feature of AIDS is 
a sharp decline in the body's concentration of glutathione, an 
important mechanism that absorbs excess oxygen and protects from 
oxidative harm.  The researchers suggest that replenishment of 
the body's stores of glutathione could delay progression of 
disease.  A clinical trial is currently being conducted to 
evaluate the usefulness of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a compound 
from which glutathione is made, in blocking the malignant course 
of HIV infection.  Scientists warn, however, that NAC would, at 
best, only slow the pace of deterioration, not act as a cure.
      
"AIDS Is Top Killer in State Prisons"
Chicago Tribune (05/03/94) P. 1-7;  Thomas, Jerry
     With the number of inmates with AIDS in Illinois prisons 
skyrocketing from just one in 1984 to 177 at the end of 1993, the
disease is now the No. 1 cause of death in the state's prisons, 
according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.  Last year, 
23 of the 96 prisoner deaths were attributed to AIDS--more than 
murder, suicide, heart attacks, and cancer, say corrections 
officials.  Currently, 119 inmates have been diagnosed with AIDS,
reports Howard Peters, director of the Corrections Department.  
Another 468 prisoners are infected with HIV, he adds.  "The 
people who are dying of AIDS came into the system HIV-infected or
with AIDS," according to Peters.  "They engaged in high-risk 
behavior that exposed them to the virus.  Intravenous drug use is
high among offenders."  A 1988-89 study conducted at Joliet 
Prison by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 
that about 4 percent of incoming male prisoners were 
HIV-positive.  Peters says the study refuted the myth that the 
growing AIDS problem is being propelled by rampant homosexual 
behavior in prisons.  "It is a misstatement of fact that everyone
in prison is having sex," he says.  Peters notes that educational
programs have been implemented to teach inmates and staff about 
the disease; nevertheless, some critics insist that segregation 
of infected inmates is the solution.  Related Story: Boston Globe
(05/02) P. 1
      
"German Firm Ordered to Pay AIDS Compensation"
Reuters (05/02/94)
     A Bonn court yesterday ordered German pharmaceutical firm Biotest
to pay more than $150,000 to a 13-year-old boy who became 
infected with HIV through contaminated blood products distributed
by the company.  That amount, in addition to compensation arising
from the firm's medical liability, placed the total award at 
about $240,000, according to a Biotest spokesperson.  The 
pharmaceutical company was linked to a national scandal that 
surfaced last year when another company, UB Plasma, was found to 
have distributed unscreened blood products that were given to 
millions of people nationwide for more than a decade.  Biotest, 
as one of the distributors who bought blood from UB Plasma, had 
its license to make the blood products suspended.  The court 
ruled that the company did not prove that it had not shown lack 
of due diligence when the hemophiliac youth was infected during 
routine treatment in 1989 with a preparation derived from 
HIV-tainted blood.  Biotest has already settled out of court with
10 other patients who were infected through the same batch of 
blood.
      
"UC San Francisco Researchers Discover Possible Way in Which AIDS
Virus Causes Dementia"
Business Wire (05/02/94)
     Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco have
found a possible mechanism to explain how HIV is able to destroy 
brain cells and cause dementia in infected children and adults.  
When GP120, a critical piece of HIV, is introduced into human 
fetal cells in test tubes, the protein triggers the release of 
toxic amounts of inflammatory proteins called cytokines, 
according to Dr. Allan Lau, a UCSF associate professor of 
pediatrics at San Francisco General Hospital.  The two cytokines,
tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-6, normally help 
regulate immune function, but too many of them can create a toxic
effect.  In that case, they cause noticeable deterioration in the
fetal brain cells and ultimately result in cell death, says Lau. 
At least 20 percent of AIDS patients experience dementia, which 
is characterized by memory loss, difficulty in concentrating, and
motor and sensory problems.  Infected children may also develop a
form of dementia in which they experience developmental delays, 
learning disabilities, and trouble relating to other people.
      
"European Court to Hear AIDS Plea Against France"
Reuters (05/02/94)
     The European Court of Human Rights announced yesterday that it 
will consider a plea against France being brought by a Turkish 
hemophiliac who contracted HIV through contaminated blood.  
Mustafa Karakaya, who became infected between August 1984 and 
July 1985 in France, launched an appeal to a French court in May 
1990, which has yet to be settled.  At the time of infection, 
French authorities were aware that some blood in banks was 
tainted with HIV, but still did not take measures to screen the 
blood.  The Strasbourg-based European Court has already ruled 
twice against France in similar cases, saying that the rights of 
AIDS patients had been violated because French authorities took 
an excessive amount of time in compensating them.  More than 
1,250 hemophiliacs were infected through transfusions, about 400 
of whom have already died.
      
"HIV Alters DNA, Causing Rare Cancer"
Science News (04/16/94) Vol. 145, No. 16, P. 244;  Pennisi, E.
     Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco have
for the first time demonstrated a direct link between HIV and 
tumor growth.  The team discovered that a piece of HIV genetic 
material had inserted itself into human DNA near a particular 
cancer-causing cell, thereby activating this oncogene, which is 
associated with several other types of tumors.  In seven HIV 
patients, white blood cells had multiplied and spread out of 
control, creating a lymphoma with a mixed cell type.  Previously,
most lymphomas observed in AIDS patients came from a single white
cell type, often B cells.  These AIDS-related cancers seem to 
surface as a result of a weakened immune system.  The seven San 
Francisco patients, however, tended not to exhibit symptoms of 
immune suppression.  Instead, "most of them had this [cancer] as 
their [first AIDS] symptom," according to researcher Michael S. 
McGrath, a cancer biologist at USCF.  McGrath offers two 
explanations for the sudden appearance of this cancer in HIV 
patients.  HIV may be evolving and may have developed different 
ways of acting inside white blood cells, which suggests that HIV 
may also alter the way it infects people.  The second explanation
is that these cancers may be an unwelcome result of HIV patients 
living longer because of treatments that combat opportunistic 
infections and delay the spread of the virus in the body.
      
"Newspaper Revives Anti-HIV Claims"
Nature (04/14/94) Vol. 368, No. 6472, P. 577
     In an April 3 article appearing in the London Sunday Times, the 
newspaper's science correspondent, Neville Hodgkinson, asserts 
that there exists a "large and growing network" of "highly 
qualified" people who are willing to admit dissension from the 
theory that HIV causes AIDS.  These individuals apparently are 
the signatories of a three-year-old open letter appealing for 
reappraisal.  "The HIV hypothesis is unfalsifiable, and useless 
as a medical hypothesis," says Kary Mullis, inventor of the 
polymerase chain reaction (PCR).  The report says that scientists
"have been careful not to rock the HIV boat, which carries jobs, 
reputations, and huge research funds."  Hiram Caton, head of the 
school of applied ethics at Griffith University in New South 
Wales, concludes that when "no vaccine will be forthcoming," 
scientists will "have to come to terms with the awful fact that 
the AIDS epidemic was a mirage."
      
"Personal Screening for HIV in Developing Countries"
Lancet (04/16/94) Vol. 343, No. 8903, P. 960;  Frerichs, Ralph R.
     Rather than blindly following old assumptions about HIV, health 
officials should be receptive to new ideas and programs, says Dr.
Ralph R. Frerichs of UCLA's Department of Epidemiology.  He notes
that, for people in developing countries, there are three primary
strategies to prevent HIV transmission from an infected 
partner--the first two of which are correct and consistent condom
use, and a vaccine--which has yet to be developed.  A third 
approach that holds great promise, says Frerichs, is voluntary 
and anonymous home testing for HIV.  The technology to perform 
such tests already exists in the form of saliva collection 
devices.  With some modifications in the marketplace, people 
could send numbered specimens to local labs and receive results 
within a few days.  Subjects with positive results should be 
urged to seek confirmation with a medical practitioner.  Home 
testing would eliminate the need for screening facilities and 
pretest counseling sessions--two elements that contribute greatly
to the cost and inconvenience of testing in many developing 
countries.  Since accurate, acceptable, and inexpensive HIV 
screening tests already exist, what is needed is the political 
will to make them widely available in the private sector and to 
support this method as a control strategy for HIV, Frerichs 
concludes.
      
"Permission Denied"
Far Eastern Economic Review (04/14/94) Vol. 157, No. 15, P. 38;  
Friedland, Jonathan;  Matsubara, Lily
     Feminists, birth-control advocacy groups, and eight foreign 
pharmaceutical manufacturers question why the Japanese government
won't approve low-dose oral contraception.  Japan does allow 
women to take a high-dose drug, but doctors claim they would be 
better served with a low-dose type, which has significantly lower
chances of side effects.  Yet, many Japanese women would probably
not take the drug because they lack information on its effects 
and believe it would lead to breast cancer.  The Japanese 
government refuses approval because it claims the drug 
contributes to the rising number of AIDS patients, according to 
Tatsuo Kurokawa, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's new 
drug division.  Agency officials want to gather more data about 
the possible link to AIDS and want the number of cases to decline
before they issue approval.  However, drug makers say they have 
produced documents showing no association with AIDS.  In 
addition, fertility rates have decreased, notes Dr. Kunio 
Kitamura, director of the Japan Family Planning Association.  
Politicians dislike the dropping fertility rates.  Also, foreign 
drug manufacturers would profit from the birth control pill, 
while Japanese firms make money on condoms.

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