The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 8, 1995 - 5A Substances found to stop AIDS virus growth The Washington Post WASHINGTON - Scientists have identified a quartet of substances made by human immune- system cells that halt the growth of the virus that causes AIDS. The substances, which appear to be much better weapons against the virus than the antibodies that are churned out to no avail in people with the disease, have so far proven their mettle only in test tubes. But researchers said that if the compounds work as well in people as they do in the laboratory, they might lead to a new class of drugs that would keep the AIDS virus in a perpetual deep sleep, allowing infected individuals to lead normal lives. The discovery could also promote the develop- ment of experimental AIDS vaccines that stimu- late the body's production of these virus-fighting substances. These might prove more effective ;,an vaccinesthat trigger production ofantibodies or other immune system components, like the current generation of vaccines being tested. "We'll have to wait and see what happens, but it's very strong work," said Dani Bolognesi, direc- tor of the Center for AIDS Research at Duke University. "It represents alongsought-afterprize." Anthony Fauci, director of the National Insti- tute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he was heartened by the work but warned that test- tube results often don't pan out in patients. "There is no guarantee that you can give this factor in the body and it will suppress HIV without doing a lot of other things you don't want it to do." The new findings, by a pair of scientific teams working independently, were rushed into publ ica- tion by two competing scientific journals and released yesterday. One team, led by Robert C. Gallo, the former National Cancer Institute virologist who in 1985 do-discovered the human immunodeficiency vi- " rtes that causes AIDS, isolated three substances made by white blood cells that may account for much of the body's ability to keep HIV in check during the early years of infection. Their results -Will appear in the Dec. 15 issue of Science. ).The second team, led by-Reinhard Kurth of the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen, Germany, de- scribes an additional HIV-suppressing substance in today's issue of Nature. All four substances are secreted by a kind of white blood-tell. called'CD8 lymphocytes, im- mune system cells that have long been recognized askey warriors in the body's valiantbut ultimately ineffective resistance against HIV. Researchers Women's window of pinpointed BOSTON (AP)- A myth-quashing new study pinpoints nature's window of fertility: There are six days in every menstrual month when a woman can get pregnant. The findings have implications for couples striving to have children, as well as for those who want to avoid them. "The trick to all this is for couples to know their fertile days," said Dr. Allen J. Wilcox. "There is no good way to do that." Perhaps the best advice is: Have sex often. Until now, estimates of women's fer- tility ranged from two days in a men- strual cycle to 10 or more. The study found that conception is possible if a woman has intercourse on the five days before ovulation as well as on the day her ovaries release a new egg. Sex before that six-day period almost certainly will not result in pregnancy, And intercourse just one day after ovu- lation won't, either. The idea that couples should save up and have intercourse on the day closest to ovulation turns out to be false. The study "suggests that you increase your chance of pregnancy with in- creased frequency of intercourse," said Wilcox, its lead author. Ideally, a couple would want to know five days in advance when ovulation will occur and have sex on those days. Test kits now on the market will reveal when ovulation is occurring, but by then it's almost too late. Couples can keep track of ovulation over several months to help estimate when it will occur. This way, they can guess when their fertile six days will start. AP PHOTO Activists protest a White House conference on AIDS to be held today, calling It a "Clinton re-election gimmick." have known for almost 10 years that these cclIs can interfere with HIV's ability to reproduce. The levels of CD8 cells tend to be high in healthy HIV- infected individuals, and as these levels eventu- ally drop, people become ill. In 1989, researchers led by Jay A. Levy at the University of California at San Francisco showed that CD8 cells accomplished this HIV suppression by producing mysterious antiviral substances, but for years, no one has succeeded in identifying them. The report in Science presents evidence that three proteins called RANTES, MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta account for most of the HIV suppres- sion by CD8 cells, while the Nature report sug- gests that another protein called interleukin-16 also plays a role. The findings are surprising because all four proteins have been known to scientists for years as factors that contribute to inflammation. But none had been recognized as having antiviral effects. Gallo, who left the NCI earlier this year to direct a newly created Institute of Human Virology in Baltimore, said he does not know yet how the antiviral proteins work. The proteins apparently don't block HIV infection but keep the virus from multiplying within infected cells. In experiments described in Science, Gallo and coworkers Fiorenza Cocchi, Paolo Lusso and oth- ers found that the newly identified proteins stoppedthe growth of HIV-1 and HIV-2 (the two major strains of HIV that infect people) as well as simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a related virus that infects monkeys. The team got essen- tially the same results whether they used proteins purified from CD8 cells or mass-produced copies. of made by genetic engineering techniques. Clinton pledges to protect AIDS funding s U President tells activists at White House conference that AIDS programs will keep funding The Washington Post WASHINGTON - President Clinton yesterday pledged to protect finding and health care programis for AIDS patients'during'a White House conference where activists from around the country asked him to do more to .ind a cure and a vaccine. The undertone of the first White House conference on AIDS and HIV_ - and the direct complaint of protesters outside the White House - was that while Clinton has done more than other Presidentsto combat AIDS by increased funding and research, it has not been .,enough. Several speakers compared the disease to the civil war in Bosnia and said the Clinton administration should put it on the top of its domestic priority list. "I support what you're doing for the ;Bosnia people to keep peace and end the war," said Shawn Sasser, an activist who introduced Clinton to the more than 250 people who attended the one- day conference. "But we also have a war raging right here for the last 15 years. Let's fight and pay whatever it costs to defeat the war on AIDS right here at home." AIDS is now the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Teachers call for hands-on education 1- science " WASHINGTON (AP) - By grade four, American schoolchildren should know that light travels in a straight line until it hits an object, teachers and sci- entists recommended yesterday. By grade eight, they should under- stand that all'organisms are made of ;ells. And by the time they leave high *chool, they should know something about how chemical reactions occur. Most importantly, throughout all ...crP ctrr~t c hnnlA lierorn ad.,,tt sc.- people who otherwise would never see a doctor." Mark Barnes, executive director of the AIDS Action Council, a Washing- ton-based advocacy group, said AIDS activists attending the meeting were heartened by Clinton's words, particu- larly his commitment to federal fund- ing for AIDS research and to safeguard- ing the Medicaid program. "When President Clinton said today that these (congressional) Medicaid proposals would be a stake through the heart of AIDS care, he really offered some fresh hope to the AIDS commu- nity," Barnes said. "But the real test of his leadership is not a speech. The real test is what he intends to do in the budget negotiations over the next four weeks with Congress over the fate of that Medicaid program." Michigan Eucational Employees Mutual Insurance Company (M.E.E.M.I.C.) Many University of Michigan employees have already found they could substantially cut their insurance costs. AUTO * HOME * LIFE See if we can save you money! Give us a call for a free quote. STEW GORDON 3376 Washtenaw Ave. " Ann Arbor,l (313) 677-1555 MI 48104 I 9 President Clinton greets HIV-positive AIDS activist Sean Sasser during the first White House conference on AIDS yesterday. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala is at the right. MICHIGAN EDUCATORS INSURANCE AGENCY that the 500,000th American had been diagnosed with AIDS and more than 300,000 have died. After Clinton's opening remarks to the conference he participated in a dis- cussion of needle-sharing among ad- dicts, mandatory AIDS testing and pe- diatric AIDS. Where Clinton said he had ordered the preparation of a government-wide research plan, including a coordinated research budget, within 90 days. He also said he had asked Vice Presi- dent Al Gore to convene a meeting of scientists and pharmaceutical industry leaders to study ways of speeding up the development of vaccines, thera- peutics and other ways of protecting people from HIV and the infections it causes. "A cure and a vaccine. That must be our first and top priority," Clinton told ' the conference. At the end of his speech, a heckler in the room complained that the Clinton administration has not done enough. "I am very sorry that there is not a cure. I am very sorry that there is not a vaccine," Clinton replied. Clinton used the opportunity of the conference to attack Republican Med- icaid spending reductions and to pledge to fight the GOP level of savings. Med- icaidpays thehealth care costs ofnearly half of all Americans with AIDS, in- cluding more than 90 percent of the children. "Medicaid is the lifeline of support," Clinton said. "It is the one thing that we have done that has helped us to drive down infant mortality among poor 1i