Medical Portal

The British scientists have moved closer to creation of essentially new class of of asthma and allergy drugs. They have found a target for medicinal substances, influence on which will allow to prevent development of symptoms, informs The Journal of Immunology.

Scientists from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry carried out the researches in vitro and on mice.

Asthma and various kinds of allergies are met very frequently. Only in Great Britain more than 30 % of inhabitants have this or that variety of an allergy, and about five millions people suffer from asthma. The majority of drugs are directed on symptoms removal, in particular, an itch of eyes or coryza. There are also some epistatic immunity drugs; however these preparations increase susceptibility of an organism to infections.

The medicines blocking p110-delta molecule can stop development of allergic reaction before evident symptoms, and at the same time they do not suppress immunity. These drugs can be made as capsules or inhalers, and not just in injections.

Existing today drugs can’t destroy HIV completely in human organism. The killing virus hides from drugs in various reservoirs, major of which is lymphoid tissue of intestines, have determined the American scientists.

Experts from the American National institute of allergy and infectious diseases in Bethesda (Maryland) have conducted research with participation of eight HIV-positive patients. All participants have taken anti-retroviral drugs within two to ten years, felt well and had low virus load (low contents of a virus in blood).

Nevertheless, studying samples of lymphoid tissue of intestines, scientists have revealed presence of HIV. Researches have confirmed similarity of virus’ DNA found in intestines, with DNA of HIV from leukocytes. It proved that both tissues have constantly infected each other after replication of the virus.

In scientists’ opinion, maximum early beginning of HIV treatment is very important, as it will allow reducing the sizes of the virus tank at patients. Results of the research have been published in Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Grapefruit compound, which gives grapefruit bitterish taste, slows down extension of hepatitis C infection in an organism, have established American scientists. In their opinion, the combination of this substance with traditional viricides can relieve disease and prevent chronic form of the disease, informs magazine Hepatology.

According to the head of the research Raymond Chung and his colleagues from Massachusetts hospitals, the main role belongs to nagenginin. Their experiments have shown that action of this derivative substance reduces production of the virus from infected cells by 80 %. It is also important, that medical concentration of this substance is not toxic for an organism, has noted Chung.

According to the statistics, more than 3 % of the planet’s population is infected with hepatitis C, and in overwhelming majority of cases illness passes to the chronic form. The chronic hepatitis C infection can lead to cirrhosis and liver carcinoma.

Two independent teams of the American scientists have declared that they could relieve the patients after kidney transplantation of lifelong taking immunosuppressant. The report on these cases has been published in New England Journal of Medicine.

In the experiments carried out by scientists from Massachusetts hospital and the Harvard Medical School participated five persons, requiring kidney transplantation. Scientists have destroyed a part of patients’ marrow and by means of medicines have destroyed the immune cells, which play a key role in rejection of an alien organ. Then the participants received a marrow and a kidney taken from the same donor.

Two - five years later after transplantation four patients have normally functioning kidney and do not require immunity-inhibiting preparations.

Refusal to take immunosuppressants can considerably improve quality of patients’ life, however additional researches on the safety of a new method are indispensable, believe scientists.

American scientists have suggested using of gene therapy for struggle against chronic pain. Developed by them method is deprived of adverse effects, typical for opiates, and renders long-term anesthetizing effect in experiments on animals, informs Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Now for struggle against chronic pain doctors apply narcotic analgesics – morphine’s analogues. These preparations have such side-effects as constant drowsiness, dormancy and hallucination that forces some patients to refuse taking of them.

Scientists from Medical school Mount Sinai (New York) have developed a technique, which simulates anesthetizing effect of opiates, but renders more directive effect.

Head of the research Andreas Beutler informed, that in the future the directed gene therapy can become an alternative to existing methods of struggle against a strong chronic pain, for example, at patients with the extensive cancer stages.

German company Tomarni together with Free University of Berlin has developed and produced a preparation which improves gamers’ skills, informed Eurogamer.

FpsBrain medication, according to the developers, accelerates nervous processes, improve reaction and perception of gamers. Each packing of the given preparation contains 60 capsules which consist of amino acids, vitamins and other safe substances.

As informed in Tomarni, FpsBrain should be taken four times a week. And cost of one packing makes about 20 euros.

The Israeli scientist Itzhhak Ofek from the medical faculty of Tell-Aviv University has found out, that two glasses of cranberry juice a day prevent urinary tracts infection at women.
For twenty years the scientist has been studying popular means of folk medicine. In the middle of the 90s he has suggested to struggle with caries using found out by him large molecules which formed a teflon - like layer on a surface of a mouth.

He has also has proved efficiency of cranberry juice in eradication of the main reason of stomach ulcers - bacteria Helicobacter Pylori. This time an effective influence was rendered by polyphenols which act as antibiotics.

And now the Israeli scientist has found out that two glasses of cranberry juice a day are very effective in preventive maintenance of urinary tracts infection at women.

Employees of Medical College in Houston conduct clinical tests of cocaine vaccine, informs AP. The preparation forces immune system to generate antibodies which will neutralize a drug before its penetration into a brain - in result dose of cocaine loses any sense for a drug addict.

To make cocaine molecule familiar for immune system, scientific have attached it to a large aluminous molecule of comma bacillus toxin. Unlike the true cocaine, this chemical compound does not cause euphoria and addiction. However antibodies generated in an organism in response to preparation, can distinguish both a “hybrid” molecule, and pure cocaine.

Developers of a vaccine, the spouse Tom and Theresa Kosten, have apply for the third expanded stage of clinical tests at the end of the last year. It is expected, that about 300 patients with a long history of cocaine abuse will take part in the research. However, as researchers mark, even in case of the successful outcome, mass application of the preparation will be possible only in some years.

British and American scientists have declared the successful completion of the first stage of vaccine’s clinical tests, capable to provide long-term protection against all flu varieties, A type. The new preparation will make unnecessary annual updating of vaccines for struggle against seasonal flu epidemics.

Modern influenza virus vaccines help immune system to distinguish superficial virus albumins hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. The structure of these albumins varies because of often mutations, and new vaccines are required to struggle against new flu varieties.

Vaccine ACAM-FLU-A developed by Acambis’ experts causes immune response to other superficial albumin named M2e. Gene, coding the structure of this albumin, remains invariable at all varieties of A type viruses, so all of them will be identified and destroyed by immune system of the vaccinated person.

ACAM-FLU-A can not protect from B type viruses, which also can cause an outbreak of disease. However all pandemia, including possible H5N1 pandemia, have been caused by A type viruses. According to WHO’s data, annually from 500 thousand up to one million people die because of flu.

Employees of the British Council on drug addiction problems consider that nurses should be authorized to give cocaine to patients in very bad condition treated from drug dependence.

At present some doctors in the Great Britain have already the license to give patients, suffering from drug dependence, A class drugs (cocaine, heroin and MDMA), worth in the street about 100 dollars for a gram. However employees of the Council want to go further and to allow by law to give drugs to dependent people in hospitals provided that they will take them in the medical worker’s presence.

Such permission is wanted to be passed only in relation to very hard addicts. For today about 10 thousand British are being treated after the cocaine use, though not all of them are registered as addicts. A principal cause of the suggested innovation is the desire to lower amount of crimes, committed by addicts to get a “doze”.

Means for cocaine are going to be allocated from the state budget. Because of this and some other reasons the question of “medical” cocaine has caused a number of disputes, as it is connected to the big expenses.

There is a lot of criticism and the main ground is that many law-abiding citizens suffering from serious illnesses not connected to drug addiction (cancer, arthritis and other diseases), are frequently refused in drugs.