Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 09:28:32 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary May 4, 1995 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Hormone May Curb AIDS-Related Tumors" "Blood Vessel Cancer Linked to Virus" "Across the USA: Utah" "AIDS Trial May Hear from Mystery Witness" "Two Chances to Shop for Good Causes" "Advocates Seek Better Health Education for Kids" "Cell Suicide: The Birth of a Mega-Market" "Ten Steps to Counseling Pregnant Women about AIDS" "HIV Sentence" "Did Butler Do It?" ************************************************************ "Hormone May Curb AIDS-Related Tumors" Philadelphia Inquirer (05/04/95) P. A3; Ritter, Malcolm Human chorionic gonadotropin--a hormone found in pregnant women--could have a role in treating Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a cancer that affects blood vessels in the skin. In today's issue of the journal Nature, Dr. Robert Gallo and his colleagues at the National Cancer Institute report that the hormone kills KS in the laboratory, and in mice it reduced tumors caused by injections of KS cells. The researchers found that KS cells that usually create tumors in mice were unable to do so if they were exposed to the hormone prior to being injected. Mice treated with the hormone for one week before being injected with KS cells did not develop tumors, or developed much smaller ones than the untreated mice. The report also presents the cases of two women with KS whose lesions disappeared during or after pregnancy. Related Stories: Financial Times (05/04) P. 12; Washington Post (05/04) P. A13 "Blood Vessel Cancer Linked to Virus" Washington Post (05/04/95) P. A13; Brown, David A team of researchers from Columbia University have concluded that Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is likely caused by a virus. The findings--published in today's New England Journal of Medicine--support the widely held belief that KS is an infectious disease, and help explain its clustering in male homosexuals with AIDS. In the study, the team searched for herpesvirus-like DNA fragments in HIV-infected homosexuals with KS, HIV-negative homosexuals with KS, and HIV-negative heterosexuals. The team found the DNA sequences in almost all of the KS patients. "We think it really establishes a causal role, not just a relationship," said researcher Yuan Chang. In an accompanying article, the team reports the discovery of evidence of the virus in a rare form of lymph cell cancer, found only in AIDS patients. The researchers found viral fragments in all eight cases of body-cavity-based lymphoma, but none in 185 other lymphoma cases. The eight tissue samples also showed evidence of infection by the Epstein-Barr virus, another member of the herpes family, which caused the team to speculate that the two microbes might be responsible for body-cavity-based lymphoma. "Across the USA: Utah" USA Today (05/04/95) P. 9A Richard Gutierrez, an HIV-infected male prostitute, is the first person in Utah to face felony sex solicitation charges under a law intended to halt the spread of AIDS. "AIDS Trial May Hear from Mystery Witness" Toronto Globe and Mail (05/03/95) P. A1; Feschuk, Scott In Canada, the prosecutor in the trial of model Marilyn Tan--who is charged with injecting her former lover with HIV--announced this week that he wants to introduce a mystery witness. The Crown is trying to prove that Tan injected photographer Con Boland with HIV during sadomasochistic sex. Boland has since tested HIV-positive. Tan has tested negative for the virus four times. On Monday, prosecutor Brian Peterson described the witness as a wealthy Edmonton businessman who wishes to preserve his anonymity by testifying from behind a screen. According to Peterson, this man had a relationship with Tan, but is not connected to the crime and does not want his reputation tarnished. Peterson told the court that Tan's sister worked as a nurse in a California hospital where she had access to HIV-tainted blood. A former friend of Tan's will testify that Tan arrived at her house one evening upset because several vials of blood had been damaged while being shipped from California. This witness will also tell the court she gave Tan several syringes. "Two Chances to Shop for Good Causes" New York Times (05/04/95) P. C6; Slesin, Suzanne During the next few weeks, two high-profile events will give New York City consumers opportunities to go on shopping sprees while benefiting AIDS organizations. Seventh on Sale, a home furnishings and fashion sale that will take place from May 18-21, will benefit the New York City AIDS Fund and the National AIDS Fund through the Council of Fashion Designers of American and Vogue Initiative. Also, the Celebrity Furniture Collection will be auctioned on May 24, with sales benefiting the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. The unique collection includes actress Susan Sarandon's red velvet Safe Sex Loveseat and performer Tommy Tune's Huarache Lounge Chair. "Advocates Seek Better Health Education for Kids" Reuters (05/03/95) A coalition of health and child advocacy groups on Wednesday called for an aggressive new effort to educate young people about their own health. The organizations noted that past threats, such as smallpox and polio, have given way to the likes of violence, car crashes, suicide, and AIDS. Other problems, such as bad eating habits, lack of exercise, and smoking set the stage for diseases later in life. The nationwide coalition, which included the American Cancer Society and the National PTA, called for health education standards that teach youths how to think about health, not what to think about health. The curriculum, they said, should involve concepts such as understanding disease prevention and setting personal goals--including avoiding drugs and tobacco. "Cell Suicide: The Birth of a Mega-Market" Fortune (05/15/95) Vol. 131, No. 9, P. 75; Bylinsky, Gene In apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body divides dying cells into packets that are consumed by neighboring cells. "Apoptosis changes the platform of biotech drug development by extending it across a variety of diseases," comments Peter F. Drake, an analyst at Vector Securities International. Medical scientists are rushing to control cell suicide as they seek new ways of treating AIDS, cancer, heart disease, and the degeneration of the brain. Recent evidence, for example, shows that people develop AIDS when HIV sets off unregulated and untimely apoptosis in CD4 and CD8 cells. HIV sends chemical signals throughout the body, persuading more and more of the cells to kill themselves, until AIDS is triumphant. Until recently, however, apoptosis was uninteresting or unimportant to scientists. But in the past few years, researchers discovered that many newly discovered cancer-causing genes do their damage by suppressing apoptosis. Researchers realized that many of the drugs they had developed to slow cancer did not work as they had thought. Currently, more than 20 companies--including Glaxo and Marion Merrell Dow--have joined the search for apoptosis-related drugs. "Ten Steps to Counseling Pregnant Women about AIDS" American Medical News (05/01/95) Vol. 38, No. 17, P. 13; Shelton, Deborah L. In March, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention urged physicians to recommend and provide voluntary HIV testing to all pregnant women. For doctors to implement the new guidelines, however, will take some doing. "This is something...that needs to be incorporated into practice so it becomes a standard of care," said Martha F. Rogers, chief of the division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the CDC's epidemiology branch. To assist in the process, experts suggest that HIV testing and counseling be made a part of the office routine, which can ease the discomfort of dealing with sensitive issues. It is also necessary to decide who will conduct the counseling, and how. Because it can be time-consuming, one option is to let someone else handle the education and prevention counseling. Other suggestions include taking a complete drug and sexual history, thoroughly explaining what HIV is, offering the advantages and disadvantages of testing, emphasizing choice in terms of testing and treatment, and being sensitive to cultural differences. "HIV Sentence" Maclean's (04/24/95) Vol. 108, No. 17, P. 25 In Burnaby, British Columbia, a violent criminal who intentionally exposed his sex partners to HIV, was sentenced to seven years in jail. Douglas Fetterley, 31, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and criminal negligence for having unsafe sex with three women when he knew he was infected with HIV. One woman, a mother of two, has tested HIV-positive. "Did Butler Do It?" Advocate (05/02/95) No. 680, P. 12 The April issue of Philadelphia Magazine accuses Pennsylvania's secretary of labor and industry, Johnny Butler, of engaging in sexist and anti-gay behavior during his tenure as head of the Philadelphia office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The magazine alleged that Butler sexually harassed female subordinates and forced a gay HIV-positive plaintiff to leave the agency's offices. Gay rights activists and feminists are calling for Butler's removal from office.