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Study shows interruption of antiretroviral therapy increases risk of disease and death

11-30-2006 · EurekAlert!

Findings from one of the largest HIV/AIDS therapy studies show that a specific strategy of interrupting antiretroviral therapy more than doubles the risk of AIDS or death from any cause. Researchers affiliated with the Mailman School of Public Health led a large multi-center international study, known as Strategies for Management of Anti-Retroviral Therapies, or SMART, comparing two treatment strategies for people with human immunodeficiency virus. Findings demonstrate the value of continuous antiretroviral therapy.

Keywords: study, shows, interruption, antiretroviral, therapy, risk, disease, death, show

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International HIV/AIDS trial finds risks increase on episodic antiretroviral therapy
11-29-2006 · EurekAlert!
Results from one of the largest HIV/AIDS treatment trials ever conducted show that a specific strategy of interrupting antiretroviral therapy more than doubles the risk of AIDS or death from any cause. In the study, the investigators used two predetermined levels of CD4+ T cells, the primary immune cell targeted by HIV, to guide them in respectively suspending or restarting the study participants on antiretroviral therapy.
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Prostate cancer therapy may increase risk of death from heart disease in older men
02-24-2007 · EurekAlert!
Androgen deprivation therapy -- one of the most common treatments for prostate cancer -- may increase the risk of death from heart disease in patients over age 65, according to a new study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital and other institutions.
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Smoking cessation therapy may be harmful for ICU patients
10-25-2006 · EurekAlert!
Nicotine replacement therapy, used to help reduce adverse events associated with nicotine withdrawal may actually increase the risk of death for smokers admitted to the intensive care unit, shows a new study presented at CHEST 2006, the 72nd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians.
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Murder mystery solved
09-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
Thousands of people die from strokes and heart attacks within 24 hours of a spike in microscopic pollution. Scientists couldn't figure out why. New research from Northwestern University has found that these tiny pieces of soot spur hyperclotting of the blood, resulting in heart attacks and strokes for people at risk. Previous epidemiological research has linked the pollution to cardiovascular death and disease, but this is the first study to show how it actually happens in an animal model.
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Treatment discovered for deadly childhood disease
12-06-2006 · EurekAlert!
Researchers have discovered that a treatment involving enzyme replacement therapy dramatically reduces the risk of death in children with Pompe disease, a rare genetic disorder in which most children die before their first birthday. The disorder causes profound muscle weakness and heart and breathing problems and affects as many as one in 40,000 births. The study is published in the online edition of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
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Prostate cancer therapy linked to increased risk of heart disease death
10-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
The use of androgen deprivation therapy to treat localized prostate cancer is associated with an increased risk of death from heart disease, according to a study published online Oct. 9 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
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03-27-2007 · EurekAlert!
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PSA doubling predicts prostate cancer recurrence
04-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
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Australian-led international study shows blood pressure drugs cut death rate in type 2 diabetes
09-03-2007 · EurekAlert!
The largest-ever study of treatments for type 2 diabetes has shown that a combination of two blood pressure lowering drugs reduced the risk of death, as well as the risks of heart and kidney disease. The ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease) Study was led by researchers at the George Institute for International Health in Sydney and the results have been presented at the European Congress of Cardiology in Vienna.
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