Survey Concludes Telaprevir a Winner for HCV Genotype 1 | Hepatitis Central News, Updates and Commentary

I did mention in my earlier blog about this drug and one person did (Dawn - Blog Name) mention she was happy about the info. I am sure the following update will help her. All the best...(Dawn, U can mail me at dr.umesh1969@gmail.com-if u find this info useful). I am happy something I did blog and that helped a needy & this encourages me to do spend more time with my blog.....

Survey Concludes Telaprevir a Winner for HCV Genotype 1 | Hepatitis Central News, Updates and Commentary

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FDA Okays Vaccines for 2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus !

At last one can breathe a sigh of relief from the H1N1 pandemic.....


FDA's approval of the Vaccine for H1N1.........


News: FDA Okays Vaccines for 2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus.

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Tuberculosis Patients Can Reduce Transmissability By Inhaling Interferon Through A Nebulizer

As for as my knowledge goes "Interferons" - (glycoproteins - natural cell-signaling proteins produced by the cells of the immune system of most vertebrates in response to challenges such as viruses, parasites and tumor cells).

1.  assist the immune response by inhibiting viral replication within host cells, activating natural killer cells and macrophages, increasing antigen presentation to T lymphocytes.

2. increasing the resistance of host cells to viral infection.

And are said to possess the antiviral and antitumour activity.   

But this finding is really interesting.................."Tuberculosis Patients Can Reduce Transmissability By Inhaling Interferon Through A Nebulizer" 

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Tigecycline- as antimalarial drug ?

                As for my knowledge goes,  'Tigecycline'  is being used  as  drug for the antibiotic resistant strain 'Staphylococcus aureus'.  And this drug belongs to the class of "glycylcyclines" (similar to tetracyclines : central four-ring carbocyclic skeleton).  The broad spectrum activity is attributed to the  D-9 position substitution. It is a bacteriostatic and acts by the inhibition of protein synthesis. It has been found to be active against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacterii. 

Now thanx to the researchers from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, who have achieved something interesting feat, i.e.,  Tigecycline has significant antimalarial activity on its own and may also be effective against multi drug-resistant malaria when administered in combination with traditional antimalarial drugs. 

Increasing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to existing drugs has resulted in the search for new antimalarial therapies and I congratulate the team for this important achievement.  More interestingly the drug is 6 times more active against P. falciparum than doxycycline. As the drug itself is an established one,  its one more addition to the serendepity list. Congrats the team...

Ref : http://www.asm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91042

Tigecycline- as antimalarial drug ?

                As for my knowledge goes,  'Tigecycline'  is being used  as  drug for the antibiotic resistant strain 'Staphylococcus aureus'.  And this drug belongs to the class of "glycylcyclines" (similar to tetracyclines : central four-ring carbocyclic skeleton).  The broad spectrum activity is attributed to the  D-9 position substitution. It is a bacteriostatic and acts by the inhibition of protein synthesis. It has been found to be active against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacterii. 

Now thanx to the researchers from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, who have achieved something interesting feat, i.e.,  Tigecycline has significant antimalarial activity on its own and may also be effective against multi drug-resistant malaria when administered in combination with traditional antimalarial drugs. 

Increasing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to existing drugs has resulted in the search for new antimalarial therapies and I congratulate the team for this important achievement.  More interestingly the drug is 6 times more active against P. falciparum than doxycycline. As the drug itself is an established one,  its one more addition to the serendepity list. Congrats the team...

Ref : http://www.asm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91042

A single dose vaccine for Swine flu !.....

I am reading anything and everything about this H1N1, since it started in Mexico and there were so many different names (many names  like - swine flu !, Mexican flu, ....).   The deadly virus has caused panic in each and every country, where there are reports of infection of H1N1.  The real concern is the use of antibiotics and the real black market  for Tamiflu and so many falsely claimed  drugs. Now thanx to Dr. Russell Basser and group who have found that a single 15-µg dose of 2009 H1N1 vaccine was immunogenic in adults, with mild-to-moderate vaccine-associated reactions. Congrats for for this important  achievement. 

A (H1N1) 2009 virus is responsible for the first influenza pandemic in 41 years. This itself shows how important the vaccine is.  The results are really interesting and as per the claim by the researchers : by day 21 after vaccination,  antibody titers of 1:40 or more were observed in 96.7%  those who received the 15-µg dose  and 93.3% who received the 30-µg dose. No deaths, serious adverse events, or adverse events of special interest were reported. Local discomfort (e.g., injection-site tenderness or pain) was reported by 46.3% of subjects, and systemic symptoms (e.g., headache) by 45.0% of subjects. Nearly all events were mild to moderate in intensity.  

Hope the efforts by the Australian drug maker CSL, Ltd. has yielded a novel vaccine that could take care of the H1N1 pandemic. Congrats once again for this achievement. 

Ref : http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMoa0907413

Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles !

These days we are hearing lots of news about "nano", I would say anything and everything is nano, now its the turn of drug delivery that too as "aerosol" form!. Though there were lots of research groups trying to do the nanoway, I think this is something really interesting. Carolyn L. Cannon, M.D., Ph.D. from Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues from the Center for Silver Therapeutics Research at the University of Akron in OH investigated the efficacy of nanoparticle-encapsulated silver-based antibiotics for treating pulmonary infections in a mouse model of pneumonia.

Treatment with antibiotic-laden nanoparticles effectively eliminated respiratory infections in mice that had been inoculated with Pseudomona aeroginosa, a common bacterial species that often infects the respiratory tract in humans, particularly immunocompromised patients, ventilated patients or those with cystic fibrosis. Infected mice that inhaled aerosolized nanoparticles encapsulating silver carbene complexes (SCCs), a novel class of silver-based antimicrobials with broad-spectrum activity, showed a significant survival advantage over the control mice that received nanoparticles without the SCCs. The results are really interesting and even the half the dose is sufficient. Toxicity results are still to be done, however this is a good beginning and hope they will come up with interesting results in the near future...

Ref :http://www.thoracic.org/sections/publications/press-releases/conference/articles/2009/abstracts-and-press-releases/cannon.pdf

A best way to deal with flu pandemic......

We are aware most of the virus and baterii are getting resistance to most of the drugs. I have mentioned in my earlier blog how the virus change their structure (mutation) and become resistant to the drugs being used to treat. Scientists are scared, because many countries have started using Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) for global influenza pandemic. As per a report Tamiflu (oseltamivir) has been stockpiled by many countries anxious to be prepared should a flu pandemic strike, but the problem according to an international team of researchers, is that influenza viruses can become resistant to antiviral drugs, and the widespread use of a single drug is likely to increase the risk that a resistant strain will emerge.

The concern is that if such a strain were to spread widely, the effectiveness of antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu in treating infected patients, as well as their ability to slow the spread of a pandemic, would be greatly reduced. A research group lead by Joseph Wu (University of Hong Kong), claims that they have developed a mathematical model to arrive at a conclusion. The team found that treating just the first 1% of the population in a local epidemic with a secondary drug, rather than with oseltamivir, could substantially delay the development of resistance to oseltamivir and this reduction in resistance was predicted to benefit not only local populations, but also those in distant parts of the world where the pandemic would subsequently spread through air travel and more interesting out come of the research is "in the current emerging swine flu situation, the secondary drug could be Relenza (zanamivir), the only other approved drug to which the new H1N1 strain has been found to be susceptible". This strategy say the researchers could be as effective because it delays use of the primary stockpiled drug until a certain proportion of the local population (about 1.5% according to the model) has been infected with virus that remains susceptible to the primary drug - with drug-sensitive virus in the majority as people recover from infection and develop immunity, only a minority of further infections are likely to be resistant to the primary drug.

The researchers say technically, such a delay could be achieved by postponing the launch of any antiviral intervention, but because even a short delay would mean denying antiviral drugs to people who would benefit from them, the researchers instead propose the deployment of a small stockpile of a secondary antiviral during the early phase of the local epidemic. More.....

Visualization of single ribonucleic acid in living cell achieved?

Yes says a research group lead by Philip Santangelo, an Asst., Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. This finding is of importance because of the fact that, this tool will help scientists learn more about how RNA operates within living cells. And more over the researchers have overcome some of the drawbacks of the earlier method like “the need for synthetic RNA or a large number of fluorescent molecules”.

In the study, the probes - produced by attaching a few small fluorescent molecules called fluorophores to a modified nucleic acid sequence and combining the sequences with a protein - exhibited single-molecule sensitivity and allowed the researchers to target and follow native RNA and non-engineered viral RNA in living cells.

The significance of the research lies in the fact that the probes recognize RNA sequences and bind to them using the same base pairing most of us are familiar in regards to DNA, For their experiments, the team used a bacterial toxin to transport the probes into living cells - a delivery technique that when combined with the high affinity of the probes for their targets, required significantly fewer probes than existing techniques. The toxin created several tiny holes in the cell membrane that allowed the probes to enter the cell's cytoplasm and later testing the sensitivity by the conventional fluorescence microscopy to image individual probes inside a cell. More interestingly, they were able to overcome the draw back of earlier method like “accumulation of probes inside a cell”.

With single-molecule sensitivity accomplished, the researchers investigated whether they could visualize individual RNA molecules using the probes. To do this, they simultaneously delivered probes designed to target a human messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence region and a probe designed with no target in the human genome. They were able to image unbound probes of both types as well as individual RNA molecules that had attached to the former probes.

With this the researchers also were, able to observe a process called dynamic RNA-protein co-localization (joining of RNA molecules and RNA binding proteins in a single cell). Congratulations for the group and wish them further success in their endeavor…More..

Biomarkers for Chikungunya fever .......

Though as we Indians (and more in Karnatak), we might have seen in the last 1-2 years lots of news on Chikungunya. Like raids on many bogus doctors and bogus drugs claiming to treat the disease 100%. Many of us don't even pronounce it correctly, following are the few lines regarding Chikungunya....

Chikungunya (in the Makonde language "that which bends up") virus (CHIKV) is an insect borne virus, of the genus, Alphavirus that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes Mosquitoes Originally from Australia, there have been recent outbreaks of CHIKV associated with severe morbidity. CHIKV causes an illness with symptoms similar to dengue fever. CHIKV manifests itself with an acute febrile phase of the illness lasts only two to five days, followed by a prolonged arthralgic disease that affects the joints of the extremities. The pain associated with CHIKV infection of the joints persists for weeks or months.

And also we knew that common laboratory tests for chikungunya include RT-PCR, virus isolation, and serological tests but none of these use to give the severity of CHIKF. Now thanks to a research group from Singapore lead by Dr. Lisa Ng have found three biomarkers for CHIKF, this is really an achievement.

As per the claims by the authors this first comprehensive report, which examines the cellular signals produced as part of the human immune response to Chikungunya virus infection, enables us to understand the changes in molecular signals in the body when infection sets in. These biomarkers can potentially lead to the development of therapeutics to reduce the severity of the disease and halt its progression.

Dr. Ng and her colleagues discovered that an increase in the levels of IL-1β and IL-6, with a concomitant decrease in RANTES, was an indication of a severe form of CHIKF. This finding would allow for quicker and more accurate prognosis of infected patients.

More interestingly the authors found that the level of RANTES was lower in patients with severe CHIKF, as compared to those with dengue. This result could potentially enable physicians and scientists to distinguish quickly between CHIKF and dengue fever - two diseases that present clinically similar symptoms. One more interesting out come of this result is that "cytokines could be used as biomarkers in predicting the severity of the disease". Though further studies are essential, its a significant contribution. Congrats Dr. Ng. More..

http://www.a-star.edu.sg/press_release/attachment/628/Press_release_SIgN-CDC_Chikungunya.pdf

Chloroquine as antiviral agent !

We all knew that chloroquine derivatives are better known as antimalarials, but something new chloroquine can be used as antiviral agent? yes says a group of researchers lead by Dr. Moscona and that too against the two lethal viruses Hendra and Nipah.

The research is significant because of the fact that the two henipaviruses that are the subject of the study are Hendra Virus (HeV) and Nipah Virus (NiV) emerged during the 1990s in Australia and Southeast Asia. (Spread via fruit bats, and they did cause potentially fatal encephalitis and respiratory disease in humans, with a devastating 75 percent fatality rate.) More recently, NiV outbreaks in Bangladesh involving human-to-human transmission have focused attention on NiV as a global health concern. One more interesting fact of this research is chloroquine is already an established drug for malaria and its the cheap drug too.

Like the avian flu, SARS, and Ebola viruses Hendra and Nipah are zoonotic pathogens (originating in certain animals but can jump between animal species and between animals and humans). There are currently no vaccines or treatments against the two henipaviruses, which are listed by the U.S. government as possible bioterror agents.

The aproach of this research group is interesting and also of greater importance because the mode of action of chloroquine is (as explained by the authors) it block the action of a key enzyme, called cathepsin L, which is essential to the virus's growth and maturation. Without this enzyme, newly formed Hendra or Nipah viruses cannot process the protein that permits the viruses to fuse with the host cell. Newly formed viruses then cannot spread the infection; in other words, they can invade, but cannot cause disease.

The authors also claim the fact that "several other zoonotic viruses depend on cathepsin L - most notably, Ebola. Our findings, and our methods, could easily be applied to the study of Ebola and other emerging diseases" .

Congrats Dr. Moscona and group for this acheivement. ...

Beware of cell phones of hospital workers !..

I heard from one of my friend a few days back, that a patient who was admitted to a hospital for the treatment for Parkinson disease got infected thro' the medical ventilator. One can imagine the fate of the patient.

Now while reading an article, I found this something strange (but a true fact !) which I want to share with others, this time the culprit here is mobile phone(s).

A Turkey research group lead by Dr. Fatma Ulger, tested the phones of doctors and nurses in hospital operating rooms and intensive care units. They found that almost 95% were contaminated with bacteria of different types (culturing the bacteria from cell phones !), potentially causing infections ranging from relatively minor skin complaints to life-threatening illness. The results are of great importance because of he fact that 'cross-contamination of bacteria between the hands of healthcare workers and their mobile phones' and there by cell phones acting as a reservoir of infection which may facilitate patient-to-patient transmission of bacteria in a hospital setting.

Hope, at least now the concerned authorities take the necessary steps like "strict infection-control procedures, environmental disinfections hand hygiene and decontamination methods are recommended for not only the hand-held electronic devices also for CELL PHONES.....