IS HIV REAllY TURNING WEAKERIJ
A research carried out by the University of Oxford in some African countries have found that while the average time in the 1980s for the onset of AIDS symptoms was 10 years, today it is nearing 13 years. First, it seems that our antiviral medicine is having a positive effect, reducing the amount of viral bodies inside people infected with HIV. A more surprising factor seems to be that HIV is making itself weaker. We may think that a successful virus is one that kills faster or has more negative effects. But, a successful virus is one that manages to replicate itself efficiently. To do that, the virus has to keep its carrier alive long enough to be passed on to other carriers. Thus, HIV is mutating to progress to AIDS slower.
DESTROY MAlARIA IN 48 HOURS
A promising new anti-malarial compound tricks the immune system to rapidly destroy red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite without damaging healthy cells, a new study has found. Researchers determined that the compound (+)-SJ733 uses a novel mechanism to kill the parasite by recruiting the immune system to eliminate malaria-infected red blood cells. In a mouse model of malaria, a single dose of (+)-SJ733 killed 80 per cent of malaria parasites within 24 hours. After 48 hours the parasite was undetectable. Planning has begun for safety trials of the compound in healthy adults, researchers said. laboratory evidence suggests that the compound’s speed and mode of action work together to slow and suppress development of drug-resistant parasites. The study appears in the journal PNAS.
ORANGE JUICE BENEFITS 10 TIMES MORE
A team of researchers has developed a new technique for measuring antioxidant activity that generates values that are 10 times higher than those indicated by current analysis methods. The study conducted by University of Granada suggested that tables on the antioxidant capacities of food products that dieticians and health authorities use must be revised. Jose Angel RufIan Henares, professor at the University of Granada, explains to SINC that the problem was that the antioxidant activity of the solid fraction (the fibre) was not measured, as it was assumed that it was not beneficial. However, this insoluble fraction arrives at the large intestine and the intestinal microbiota could ferment it and extract more antioxidant substances, which they could assess with their new methodology.