Malaria drugs may boost viral activity.Malaria Drugs may boost viral virility Virility See also Beauty, Masculine; Brawniness. Fury, Sergeant archetypal he-man. [Comics: “Sergeant Fury and His Howling Commandos” in Horn, 607–608] Henry, John Mouse studies suggest that five of the most commonly used antimalaria drugs may make individuals especially susceptible to viral diseases, including AIDS. If confirmed in humans, this could portend por·tend tr.v. por·tend·ed, por·tend·ing, por·tends 1. To serve as an omen or a warning of; presage: black clouds that portend a storm. 2. a no-win predictment for the millions of Africans who live virtually surrounded by both the AIDS virus and the deadly malaria-causing protozoan protozoan (prō'təzō`ən), informal term for the unicellular heterotrophs of the kingdom Protista. Protozoans comprise a large, diverse assortment of microscopic or near-microscopic organisms that live as single cells or in simple Plasmodium falciparum. Radha K. Maheshwari and his coleagues at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., gave healthy mice one of five different antimalaria drugs and then injected the animals with either of two tropical viruses -- Semliki Forest virus Semliki forest virus an alphavirus associated with illness in horses in Africa. or encephalomyocarditis virus. At blood concentrations equivalent to therapeutic levels in humans, the antimalaria drugs significantly enhanced viral replication, leading to more rapid onset of disease and higher death rates in the treated mice compared with untreated mice challenged with the same viruses. The researchers say their data are consistent with in vitro experiments by others suggesting that antimalaria drugs may enhance the activity of the AIDS virus and Epstein-Barr virus, which has been associated with a cancer called Burkitt's lymphoma. They say their experiments -- the first to test the phenomenon in vivo--"suggest that the widespread use of antimalarials in malaria-endemic areas may predispose the population to significant viral infections, including AIDS." The team presented its data in New Orleans last week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Scientist know that chloroquine chloroquine /chlo·ro·quine/ (klor´o-kwin) an antiamebic and anti-inflammatory used in the treatment of malaria, giardiasis, extraintestinal amebiasis, lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis; used also as the hydrochloride and , the most commonly prescribed antimalaria drug, suppresses the immune system, says William K. Milhous of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research This article is about the U.S. Army medical research institute (not the hospital). Otherwise, see Walter Reed (disambiguation). The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is the largest biomedical research facility administered by the U.S. in Washington, D.C. However, he adds, it's not obvious why other, chemically unrelated antimalarials would also do so. In the mouse experiments, all five drugs suppressed the disease-fighting "natural killer calls" and apparently blocked the action of interferon, an immune-enhancing chemical secreted by several types of white blood cells White blood cells A group of several cell types that occur in the bloodstream and are essential for a properly functioning immune system. Mentioned in: Abscess Incision & Drainage, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Complement Deficiencies . Nothing that physicians in Africa often prescribe synthetic interferon to help ward off infections, the researchers warn that antimalaria drugs might render that treatment useless. Milhous says scientists will have to perform similar studies in primates to help determine whether the new findings apply to humans. |
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