Missing AIDS Link Found in Chimps

Missing AIDS Link Found in Chimps

dsc.discovery.com

July 22, 2009 -- Scientists believe they have found a "missing link" in the evolution of the virus that causes AIDS. It bridges the gap between the infection that does no harm to most monkeys and the one that kills millions of people. That link is a virus that is killing chimpanzees in the wild at a disturbingly high rate, according to a study in Thursday's journal Nature.

Chimpanzees are the first primate besides man shown to get sick in the wild in significant numbers from a virus related to HIV. Chimps are also man's closest relative among primates.

And chimps are already endanger

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The monkey version of the virus that causes AIDS is called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), but most apes and monkeys that have it show no symptoms or illness. So "if we could figure out why the monkeys don't get sick, perhaps we could apply that to people," said study lead author Beatrice Hahn, a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The nine-year study of chimps in their natural wild habitat at Gombe National Park in Tanzania found chimps infected with SIV had a death rate 10 to 16 times higher than uninfected chimps. And necropsies of dead infected chimps showed unusually low counts of T-cell white blood proteins that are just like the levels found in humans with AIDS, Hahn said in a phone interview.

Nothing to add really. Just wanted to pass this along.

Enjoy!

dsc.discovery.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is a very interesting discovery. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. S&F for that. This could be the beginning of a true cure. It could possibly even help to highlight the function of certain genes and maybe even lead to greater understanding in other genetic studies.

C'mon now virus. Show us your weak spot.

Hehe,. Ill be right back !!![atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/52d9661ca0a0.gif[/atsimg]







And on and on !!!

[edit on 22/7/2009 by ChemBreather]

That rules! Keeping my fingers crossed that this could lead to some great developements in AIDS research.

Hopefully this takes us one step closer to a cure...

Which makes me think... If a virus can mutate from a benign form to a destructive form, couldn't we cure ourselves by helping it to mutate into a new benign form?

Just a thought.

Originally posted by HunkaHunka
Hopefully this takes us one step closer to a cure...

Which makes me think... If a virus can mutate from a benign form to a destructive form, couldn't we cure ourselves by helping it to mutate into a new benign form?

Just a thought.

I agree. It happens all the time in nature. There are even medical treatments that pit one virus vs. another so that they combine to be benign.

reply to post by ChemBreather


That is all speculation and holds no relevance to REAL science. 2nd line.

reply to post by ChemBreather


See things like these videos crack me up. Lots of northern descendants of europeans are immune to HIV due to having survived the plague given that it too was an auto immune disease of rodents.

www.bioedonline.org...

reply to post by Aggie Man


Speculations ? ok, why are this Ph.d's going on the news and say it is the case? An american drug company found hiv in the asprint and figured they sell it to europe to make cash on it !!

Originally posted by ChemBreather
reply to post by Aggie Man

 

Speculations ? ok, why are this Ph.d's going on the news and say it is the case? An american drug company found hiv in the asprint and figured they sell it to europe to make cash on it !!

LOLz!!! So they allegedly found hiv in the asprint (No way it could have been a disgruntled employee that did it). That is a looooooong stretch of the imagination to support the notion that HIV is man-made. ESPECIALLY when it, just like all other viruses, is found in nature.

reply to post by Aggie Man


not to mention lots of Europeans are immune to it because of their exposure to a rodent based immunodeficiency virus from the middle ages.

reply to post by Aggie Man


Chimpanzees don't synthesize ascorbic acid in their livers, like us and a few other species. Most species produce very large (compared to the RDA) amounts of it. Equivalent to ~13 grams daily proportionately in humans when unstressed.

Most monkeys have the ability to produce ascorbic acid, some don't. Are all monkeys immune to the virus, or only some species?

Several studies have reported that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can inactivate poliovirus, herpesvirus, vaccinia virus, and hepatitis virus. Other studies have found that ascorbic acid can prevent the intracellular replication of rhinovirus, Rous sarcoma virus and human T cell leukemia virus. Some studies have indicated that vitamin C can improve the conditions of patients with poliomyelitis, hepatitis and infectious mononucleosis. Twenty different studies have reported that vitamin C can protect against the common cold and reduce the severity of cold symptoms. In a recent study, ascorbic acid was shown to inhibit the activity and growth of the AIDS virus, also known as human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. Several reports have described clinical improvement in patients with AIDS after they took large doses of vitamin C. This study was performed to determine if ascorbic acid can inhibit the growth of HIV. This virus attacks and destroys white blood cells called T lymphocytes. When T lymphocytes infected with HIV were grown in culture, ascorbic acid inhibited the growth of the virus by inhibiting the activity of an enzyme called reverse transcriptase (an enzyme that makes DNA). When ascorbic acid was removed from the culture, HIV began to replicate again. Ascorbic acid is an antioxidant that protects cells from damage caused by oxidation. Two other antioxidants (thiol-containing reducing agents), N-acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GSH), were tested for their ability to inhibit the growth of HIV in infected T lymphocytes. NAC inhibited HIV replication, but GSH had no effect. Although NAC was not as effective as ascorbic acid, the greatest effect was observed when NAC and ascorbic acid were used together. These results indicate that ascorbic acid has antiviral activity against HIV and may be of therapeutic value in controlling HIV replication in infected patients. Approximately 12 grams of vitamin C would have the be taken to equal the dose of ascorbic acid used in these experiments. Intravenous infusion would be the best way to deliver such a high dose of vitamin C. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Su pression of human immunodeficiency virus replication by ascorbate in chronically and acutely infected cells.


edit for: oops, added wrong link!

[edit on 22-7-2009 by unityemissions]