Drug has unexpected promise as HIV vaccine (FierceVaccines)
When scientists first started using cyclodextrin in meds as an emulsifier and cinical trials as a control, there were no therapeutic benefit. But after one trial showed the drug could be a therapy for Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC), researchers' interest was piqued. Now, cyclodextrin has been tapped as a possible HIV vaccine.
NPC is a fatal cholesterol-metabolism disorder, and was the disease subject of a 2009 clinical trial. In the trial, mice in the control group, which received cyclodextrin, improved as much as the trial group receiving the original NPC treatment. Now, as an HIV remedy, cyclodextrin works by removing cholesterol from HIV membranes, which eliminates the virus' threat to the immune system. So a group of scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College in London are developing a vaccine using the glucose compound. Cyclodextrin is also being studied as a treatment for Alzheimer's and Ebola.
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Complete article at Fierce Vaccines : http://bit.ly/o3Gff1
