HIV Drug Can Persist In Mothers' Milk, Increasing Risk To Them And Their Babies

� A drug usually used in the development world to prevent contagion of HIV from mother to shaver persists in the breast milk and blood of the mothers, putting them and their babies at risk for developing drug-resistant strains of the virus, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.


The researchers found that the dose, nevirapine, corset in the blood and breast milk of the infected mothers for at least two weeks. During that time, the computer virus has sizeable opportunity to transform itself into drug-resistant strains of HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, which tin be very difficult to treat.


"In the little term, nevirapine is better than zilch," said David Katzenstein, MD, professor of infectious diseases and principal investigator of the study. "But in the long term, I'm concerned around conferring resistance. If you're talking around resistance on a wide scale, it could endanger future treatment for mothers and infants."


Seble Kassaye, MD, instructor in infectious diseases and first generator of the study, will present the results Aug. 5 at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.


Last year, 420,000 babies were born HIV-positive, the large bulk of them to HIV-infected mothers in sub-Saharan Africa, according to figures from the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS. The centerpiece of public health programs in the developing world to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV ar both zidovudine (AZT) and nevirapine, which have been used as preventive tools in virtually 900,000 women and infants oecumenical. The drugs are relatively inexpensive and easy to administer, and nevirapine is typically granted as a single pill as the mother goes into task and as a liquid to the baby just after birth. Use of the do drugs reduces the chance of HIV contagion by half, to around 13 percent. However, not all HIV-infected women feature access to one or both of these drugs, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.


In addition, nevirapine has proven to be problematic. Previous studies have institute that as many as 69 per centum of HIV-positive mothers and as many as 80 percent of babies born infected, even after being given a single-dose of nevirapine without AZT, english hawthorn develop nevirapine-resistant strains of the virus.


In the latest subject area, the Stanford scientists set out to better understand this job.


They looked at a group of 32 HIV-positive pregnant women in Zimbabwe, where Katzenstein and his colleagues consume had on-going research and clinical programs in HIV/AIDS for more than a decade. The sub-Saharan African country has been difficult hit by the virus, with an estimated 17 to 18 percent of young adults estimated to be septic. Among significant women, some 20 per centum are thought to carry the virus.


In recent years, Zimbabwe has begun offering antiretroviral drugs to a limited number of infected patients, but at the time of the study, none of the women had been treated for their HIV. The only do drugs they received was the single cupid's itch of nevirapine when they went into labor, largely for the sake of their babies.


The researchers found that the drug persisted in the body for weeks, with more than half of the women having detectable levels in their blood inside two weeks after delivery. Two-thirds had measurable levels in their breast milk at two weeks, the researchers establish.


The thirster the do drugs remains in the scheme, the more likely it is to promote development of mutations in the virus. Although none of the HIV-infected women carried drug-resistant strains of the virus at the beginning of the study, at two months after birthing RNA tests showed a third of them had drug-resistant virus in their blood. Sixty-five percent had drug-resistant strains in their breast milk as substantially, with the potential to pass this on to their babies through breastfeeding, a common mode of viral transmission.


The mothers who were most likely to explicate resistant virus were those whose disease was more advanced as indicated by lower CD4 cell counts, the resistant cells targeted by HIV, Kassaye aforesaid. With advanced HIV contagion, these women are likely have more replicating virus, so they may be more prone to developing mutations that make the virus resistant to treatment, she said.


If these women had access to better, combination antiretroviral treatment to optimally suppress virus replication, they might be less likely to develop these hard-to-treat strains later, she said.


"It reinforces the pauperization to treat these women with combination therapy, thereby providing better prevention for the baby, while providing better handling for the mother," Kassaye said. "Public health efforts should preserve to expand combination therapy so that mothers and babies aren't left vulnerable to drug resistance."


Combination therapy is a ruffle of drugs that is more expensive - and thus less accessible - in the developing world. In the United States, HIV-positive women receive a highly effective form of combination therapy that has reduced transmission of HIV from mother to infants to less than 2 percent.


Other study authors at Stanford include Yvonne Maldonado, MD, professor of pediatrics; Elizabeth Johnston, PhD, research associate; Esther Lee, former graduate student; and Avi Shetty MD, former postdoctoral companion in pediatric infectious disease.


The work was fund by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and by the National Institutes of Health.

Stanford University Medical Center integrates enquiry, medical education Department and patient care at its trey institutions - Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. For more than information, delight visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of Communication & Public Affairs at hypertext transfer protocol://mednews.stanford.edu.

Stanford University Medical Center


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The American R&B singer played piano on the indie band's

Beth Orton

   
Artist: Beth Orton

   Genre(s): 
Rock
   Folk
   

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Discography:


   
 Comfort of Strangers

   Year: 2006   
Tracks: 14


   
 The Other Side of Daybreak

   Year: 2003   
Tracks: 10


   
 Pass in Time: The Definitive Collection

   Year: 2003   
Tracks: 14


   
 Daybreaker

   Year: 2002   
Tracks: 10


   
 Central Reservation

   Year: 1999   
Tracks: 12


   
 Trailer Park

   Year: 1997   
Tracks: 11


   
 Super Pinky Mandy

   Year: 1993   
Tracks: 10

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Singer/songwriter Beth Orton combined the passionate beaut of the acoustic kinsfolk tradition with the electronic wash up generation of trip-hop to make a novel, distinct optical fusion of roots and rhythm. Born in Norwich, England in December 1970, Orton debuted as one half of the duet Spill, a one-off picture with William Orbit which released a overlay of John Martyn's "Don't Wanna Know About Evil." She continued on the job with Orbit on his 1993 LP Foreign Cargo 3, co-writing and tattle the raceway "Water From a Vine Leaf" in the beginning appearing with the mathematical group Red Snapper on their offset singles "Common snapping turtleneck" and "In Deep." In 1995 Orton teamed with the Chemical Brothers for "Alive: Alone," the ultimate racecourse on their Exit Planet Dust LP. After collection a financial funding lot comprised of dual bassist Ali Friend, guitar player Ted Barnes, keyboardist Lee Spencer and drummer Wildcat Will, she last issued her 1996 debut EP She Cries Your Name; her stunning full-length bow Trailer Park, produced in part by Andrew Weatherall, followed later in the twelvemonth. In 1997, Orton released the brilliant C. H. Best Bit EP, a move towards a more than organic, soulful well-grounded highlighted by a couple of duets with folk-jazz caption Terry Callier; the full-length Primal Reservation followed in 1999. "Stolen Car" was a check strike among college wireless set and tours across the U.S. were as well successful. Three days later, Orton emerged fresh with her third album Daybreaker. This time around, she collaborated with ex-Whiskeytown frontman Ryan Adams and the Chemical Brothers. In former 2006, Orton released her fourth part record





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Salma Hayek - Hayeks 35 Million Wedding

SALMA HAYEK will marry her billionaire fiance FRANCOIS-HENRI PINAULT in a spectacular $3.5 million (GBP1.75 million) celebration next spring (09), according to reports.

The couple announced their engagement and Hayek's pregnancy last year (07), which was followed by the birth of daughter Valentina in September (07).

Hayek and Pinault have enjoyed a low-key relationship, but sources tell the National Enquirer that the 46-year-old French boss of fashion houses Gucci, Yves St. Laurent and Balenciaga will dig deep for a five-day-long wedding ceremony in St. Tropez, France.

An insider reveals, "It took Francois over a year to get Salma to agree to marry him, and he doesn't want to spare any expense. Francois basically gave her the key to the vault and said, 'Go wild.'"

The tabloid claims the pair will fly their friends in on private jets; put them up in luxury resorts; spend $500,000 (GBP250,000) on a wedding dress and almost $1 million (GBP500,000) on flowers.

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Tracks: 10

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The Failure (Strange Famous): B

This is the wrong disc for anyone expecting Providence poet Dolan to sound like his Strange Famous MC affiliate Sage Francis. Dolan is a spoken word artist with distinctive skills: He’s the rare slam champ who hasn’t bitten Saul Williams. “The Failure” packs too much feedback and instrumental filler, but through Dolan’s vociferous fragments you can almost hear the world unravel. Download: “The Skycycle Blues.”

Film-maker Sydney Pollack dies at 73

Sydney Pollack, the film director, producer and actor who made the comedy 'Tootsie' and the Oscar-winning 'Out of Africa', has died. He was 73.
Mr Pollack died of cancer overnight at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, surrounded by family. He had been diagnosed with cancer nine months ago.
The film-maker balanced box office success with critical acclaim over a half-century career, working with stars such as Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Sydney Poitier, Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
He tackled a variety of social issues and  earned a worldwide reputation for an acute romantic and political sensibility that led to some of the most respected films from the late 1960s to the 1980s.
Pollack was twice nominated for an Oscar for best director, with 'They Shoot Horses Don't They?' (1969) a harrowing Depression-era drama starring Jane Fonda, and 'Tootsie' (1982), starring Dustin Hoffman as an out-of-work actor who makes his way by pretending to be a woman.
He finally won the directing and best picture Oscars with 'Out of Africa' (1985), a masterpiece that starred Streep and Redford as a Danish baroness and a big game hunter who have a love affair destined for failure in colonial Kenya.
Born on 1 July 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, the son of a  pharmacist, Pollack first had ambitions to be a dentist. But he moved to New York at age 17 and learned acting under legendary coach Sanford Meisner.
He spent several years teaching, interspersed with two years in the US army, and directed a number of television series before heading to Los Angeles where he helped create a slew of films, many of which have gone on to become classics.
They were not all successes. 'Havana' (1990), another venture  with Redford, was a commercial failure, but Pollack soon returned with the box office smash 'The Firm,' an adaptation of John Grisham's thriller starring Cruise.
More recently, Pollack was an executive producer on Anthony  Minghella's Oscar-nominated 'Cold Mountain' (2003) and won acclaim for his production of and acting alongside George Clooney in 'Michael Clayton' (2007), which was nominated for seven Oscars.
As an actor, he had also played memorable parts in Woody Allen's in 'Husbands and Wives' (1992), and Robert Altman's 'The Player' the same year.
He was married with three children.