HIV research is a winding road where one obstacle leads to another, slowing down success. The first barrier to getting the cure starts before one can even talk about it. “Cure may be too powerful and promising a term. Remission is probably better,” said John Mellors, whose work led to the universal use of plasma HIV-1 RNA and CD4+ T-cell counts in HIV-1 infection.
“Cure means maintaining an undetectable viral load off antiretroviral treatment. That means you cannot transmit it to people. Within that definition, there are people that have complete eradication of every single virus. And then, you have people that have a low level of virus that are able to keep under control without drugs,” Sharon Lewin told BioWorld. “Remission is maintaining a viral load less than 50 copies per milliliter in the absence of any retroviral. But there is still virus detectable,” she explained. Lewin is the director of The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, and the president of the International AIDS Society (IAS). Read More
Therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) have been effective in relapse prevention but emerging data still show the continued disability progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA), characterized by the presence of ectopic B-cell follicles and active lesions with microglia cells, resulting in a smoldering central nervous system (CNS)-driven inflammation, tissue damage and disease progression. Read More
At the ongoing AAAAI meeting in San Antonio, researchers from Escient Pharmaceuticals Inc. presented preclinical data for the Mas-related G-protein coupled receptor X2 (MRGPRX2) antagonist EP-262, being evaluated as a novel therapeutic approach for mast cell-mediated diseases. In vitro, EP-262 acted as a potent and highly selective antagonist of MRGPRX2, which inhibited MRGPRX2 activation induced by a wide variety of agonists. Read More
Researchers from Yonsei University reported their findings from a study that aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying aberrant actin remodeling in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Revision of public gene expression datasets of rectum biopsy samples from patients with IBD identified a subset of patients that exhibited substantially higher levels of tripartite motif-containing protein 40 (TRIM40), a gene that is epigenetically silenced under healthy conditions. Read More
It was previously demonstrated that the CNS-penetrant compound bryostatin-1 (bryo-1) exerts an immunomodulatory effect on myeloid-lineage innate immune cells in the periphery through its actions on protein kinase C (PKC). In a new study, researchers from Johns Hopkins University aimed to assess the potential of bryo-1 for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) by investigating its effect on remyelination. Read More
Eurofarma Laboratórios SA and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro have synthesized N-acylhydrazone acting as sodium channel protein type 9 subunit alpha (SCN9A, Nav1.7) and/or SCN10A (Nav1.8) blockers reported to be useful for the treatment of pain. Read More
Environmental factors, such as those from food allergens, can modulate IgE-driven hypersensitivity related to the genetics of allergy. Researchers from the Korea National Institute of Health aimed to investigate the impact of polymorphisms in the SORBS1 gene in relation to atopic dermatitis based on milk exposure. Read More
Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) has presented 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro) (SARS-CoV-2) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and SARS-CoV-2 infections (COVID-19). Read More
Shanghai Huilun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has identified thiazle derivatives acting as dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases. Read More
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has disclosed platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFR-β) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Read More
