                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       March 5, 1996

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement
by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction
of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"FDA Agrees to Review Test for AIDS Viral Levels"
"HIV-Positive Troops Lose Special Treatment"
"EU Sets Prophylactics Standard"
"Washington & World: Supreme Court"
"Blood Transfusions Speed Conversion to Full-Blown AIDS in 
HIV-Infected Individuals"
"Many HIV-Positive STD Clinic Patients Practice Unsafe Sex"
"Viragen Inc. to Conduct HIV/AIDS Study with Natural Human 
Interferon; Company Also Forms Alliance with Leading Healthcare 
Provider"
"T-Cell Mediated Rejection of Gene-Modified HIV-Specific 
Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in HIV-Infected Patients"
"Tweaking T Cells with Altered Antigens"
"Agouron Starts Phase III Protease Inhibitor Studies"
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"FDA Agrees to Review Test for AIDS Viral Levels"
Wall Street Journal (03/05/96) P. B6
     Chiron Corp. announced that the Food and Drug Administration will
evaluate a blood test that measures viral levels in HIV-infected 
patients.  Studies show that determining a patient's viral level 
can help predict the impact the virus will have on their future 
health.  With this knowledge, doctors can treat HIV-positive 
individuals better and researchers can better judge experimental 
therapies.
      
"HIV-Positive Troops Lose Special Treatment"
Washington Times (03/05/96) P. A3;  Scarbough, Rowan
     In the past, people serving in the military who had cancer, 
diabetes, or other conditions that made them "permanent 
non-deployables" could be forced to retire, while people with 
HIV could not.  A new law to force the discharge of all 
HIV-positive military members has been widely criticized, but is 
supported by people who say it will end the double standard that 
has been favoring people with HIV.  They say all personnel who 
cannot be deployed should be discharged with medical and 
financial benefits.  Currently, HIV-infected service members are 
taken from active duty and assigned to desk jobs.  When they 
develop AIDS, they are retired from service with benefits.  
However, service members who are classified as non-deployable for
other medical reasons, may be discharged depending on their 
individual service's standards and how many non-deployables can 
be retained.  Rep. Robert Dornan (R-Calif.) sponsored the new 
policy, arguing that keeping service members who cannot be 
deployed weakens the military's readiness.
      
"EU Sets Prophylactics Standard"
Journal of Commerce (03/05/96) P. 8A
     Condoms sold in the 15 European Union countries as well as 
Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland will have to comply with new 
standards for strength, length, width, and quality.  The European
Committee for Standardization (CEN) announced the specifications 
for "Eurocondoms," saying it wanted to reconcile differing 
national standards.  The CEN pointed out that condoms 
significantly reduce the risk of HIV transmission and are also a 
good and inexpensive contraceptive.  The new standards, which 
must be implemented by June 1998, can be met by manufacturers by 
following CEN guidelines.
      
"Washington & World: Supreme Court"
Investor's Business Daily (03/05/96) P. A1
     The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of two former 
Massachusetts high school students and their parents, who had 
objected to an "indecent" program on sex education and AIDS.
      
"Blood Transfusions Speed Conversion to Full-Blown AIDS in 
HIV-Infected Individuals"
Reuters (03/04/96)
     Blood transfusions seem to speed the conversion from 
HIV-infection to full-blown AIDS, Dr. Ronald Sacher of Georgetown
University has found.  The amount of blood a patient receives, 
the disorder being treated, the particular blood component being 
given, and the age and gender of the patients all affect the 
amount of risk involved.  Sacher said that increased morbidity is
associated with transfusions in general, but that illness and 
death are particular concerns of HIV patients.  Sixty percent of 
HIV patients die within two years of a transfusion, and Sacher 
says that the transfusions themselves pose problems, independent 
of HIV infection.
      
"Many HIV-Positive STD Clinic Patients Practice Unsafe Sex"
Reuters (03/04/96)
     A significant number of homosexual or bisexual men continue to 
practice unsafe sex even though they know they are infected with 
HIV, according to a survey of men attending genitourinary clinics
in England and Wales.  Forty-seven percent of the homosexual or 
bisexual patients studied had a recently-detected sexually 
transmitted disease (STD) and knew that they had HIV.  Having 
both HIV and a recent STD showed that the men were continuing 
unsafe sexual behaviors, M.A. Catchpole, the study's leader, 
concluded.  He said the results raise questions about the 
effectiveness of counseling after HIV tests.
      
"Viragen Inc. to Conduct HIV/AIDS Study with Natural Human 
Interferon; Company Also Forms Alliance with Leading Healthcare 
Provider"
Business Wire (03/04/96)
     Viragen Inc. announced Monday that it will conduct a study of its
natural human alpha interferon product Alpha Leukoferon for the 
treatment of hemophiliacs with HIV and AIDS.  The company has 
also allied with Quantum Health Resources Inc., which is 
providing financial support for the study.  Of the 90 patients to
participate in the study, 60 will receive Alpha Leukoferon for a 
minimum of six months in combination with a comprehensive HIV 
treatment program, while the remaining 30 make up the control 
group.  The study will be led by Dr. R.H. Keller, medical 
director of Biodoron and chief executive officer of Immune 
Balance Technologies Inc.
      
"T-Cell Mediated Rejection of Gene-Modified HIV-Specific 
Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in HIV-Infected Patients"
Nature Medicine (02/96) Vol.2, No.2, P. 216;  Riddell, Stanley R.;
Elliott, Mark;  Lewinsohn, Deborah A.; et al.
     Introducing genes into cells has been advanced as a method to 
correct genetic deficiencies and bolster immunity.  An immune 
response to new protein products made by the introduced genes can
eliminate the gene-modified cells, however.  In Nature Medicine, 
Riddell et al. report the results of a trial in which patients 
with HIV were given CD8 HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes 
(CTLs) that were genetically modified to express a gene for 
positive and negative selection.  The transferred CTLs persisted 
for four weeks, but then quickly disappeared in five of the six 
patients.  This decline was attributed to the development of 
lymphocyte responses specific to the protein made by the modified
cells.  The researchers suggest that gene-modified cells will 
have to be made less susceptible to the host immune system if 
gene therapy is to be successful.  An unexpected insight from the
study, the authors say, is that HIV-infected patients have the 
ability to induce a strong primary T-cell immune response to 
foreign antigens expressed by transferred CTLs.  This finding 
could provide clues to improving immune responses to 
opportunistic pathogens and developing a vaccine for HIV.
      
"Tweaking T Cells with Altered Antigens"
Lancet (02/17/96) Vol.347, No.8999, P. 460;  McCarthy, Michael
     Until the 1980s, researchers thought that a T cell either became 
fully activated as a result of a strong bond with a 
major-histocompatibility complex or that it did nothing.  
Scientists now know that some T-cells--ones exposed to a 
13-aminoacid ligand with one aminoacid substitution--can become 
partly activated, producing interleukin-4, providing B-cell help 
functions, but not proliferating.  Paul Allen, of Washington 
University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. found that the 
altered peptide ligands--the recognition sites on immunogenic 
peptides--can cause varying degrees of T-cell activation in CD4 
helper T cells and CD8 cytotoxic T cells.  Hepatitis B and C and 
HIV can take advantage of altered peptides.  Rodney Phillips at 
John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has found four strains of HIV 
with a mutated antigenic peptide derived from the virus.  In 
culture, genetically-engineered strains of the virus could stop 
attacks from cytotoxic T cells on the altered virus and the 
wild-type virus.  Phillips has therefore concluded that altered 
peptide ligand mutations may be an important tool used by HIV to 
elude the immune system and that they might also help the virus 
counter vaccines now being developed.
      
"Agouron Starts Phase III Protease Inhibitor Studies"
AIDS Treatment News (02/09/96) No.240, P. 4
     Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is launching two large studies of 
its protease inhibitor VIRACEPT (nelfinavir mesylate) in 
combination with other HIV drugs and one smaller study of 
nelfinavir alone.  One trial, which will include 240 patients, 
will evaluate two doses of nelfinavir combined with stavudine, 
compared to stavudine alone.  Three quarters of the participants 
will be patients who have received AZT for at least six months.  
None of the participants will have used any protease inhibitor 
previously.  In another trial, enrolling 210 patients, the same 
two doses of nelfinavir will be studied in combination with AZT 
and 3TC, compared to AZT plus 3TC alone.  To participate, 
patients must not have received any anti-HIV drugs, other than a 
lifetime total of less than one month's worth of AZT.
      
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