Viral diseases, treatment

New active substances for treatment of AIDS, cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, (and from 2008) autoimmune or other immunological disorders and viral diseases. 

Interferon-/ 143 amino acids, glycosylated E. coli Chronic granulomatous disease Approved for sale In clinical trials for treatment of cancer and viral diseases... 

Newer uses have appeared in the treatment of viral diseases including AIDS, alteration of the immune response, and cancer. The lithium salt of 7-linolenic acid (LiGLA) has a significant anticancer effect against certain cancers. The neurochemical basis for lithium action is difficult to define. Lithium carbonate induces a wide range of intra- and extracellular changes—most emphasis has been naturally on the similarities with Na/K/Ca/Mg ions. Lithium selectively interferes with the inositol lipid cycle, representing a unified hypothesis of action. The biochemistry, distribution, and cellular localization of lithium has been extensively documented. 

Adjuvants enhancing HLA class I-restricted CTL responses are especially needed for treatment or prevention of chronic viral diseases and infections linked to intracellular pathogens, and for cancer immunotherapy. Among the very few adjuvants licensed for human use, we evaluated the capacity of IRIV to enhance HLA class I-restricted CTL responses in vitro. We addressed IRIV-elicited immune responses and the induction of CTL specific to IM58 66 and Melan-A/Mart-127-35 epitopes. Proliferation assays, cytokine expression studies, and phenotypes of CD4+ T-cells demonstrated that IRIV... 

Let s conclude this discussion of life with a short consideration of viruses. Viruses cause all sorts of problems for living organisms. The problems are the consequence of their ability to infect, and ultimately kiU, many types of cells— bacterial, animal, and plant—though each virus is quite specific in terms of the type of cell that it infects. There are many types of viruses. In people, they cause measles, mumps, influenza, AIDS, polio, potentially fatal diarrhea in infants and very young children, herpes, chicken pox, shingles, the common cold, and many other diseases, that may be fatal, serious, and not so serious. In other animals, viruses also cause any number of diseases, as they do in plants. Much effort has been, and continues to be, devoted to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of viral diseases. 

Albumin (human) Epoetin alfa contains albumin, a derivative of human blood. Based on effective donor screening and product manufacturing processes, it carries an extremely remote risk for transmission of viral diseases. No cases of transmission of viral diseases or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease have ever been identified for albumin. Anemia Not intended for CRF patients who require correction of severe anemia epoetin alfa may obviate the need for maintenance transfusions but is not a substitute for emergency transfusion. Not indicated for treatment of anemia in HIV-infected patients or cancer patients due to other factors such as iron or folate deficiencies, hemolysis, or Gl bleeding, which should be managed appropriately. Hypertension Up to 80% of patients with CRF have a history of hypertension. Do not treat patients with uncontrolled hypertension monitor blood pressure adequately before initiation of therapy. Hypertensive encephalopathy and seizures have occurred in patients with CRF treated with epoetin. 

Human papilloma viral disease Imiquimod has not been evaluated for the treatment... 

Glycosylated Compounds. The rationale for the use of modified nucleosides for the treatment of cancer and viral disease relies on the hope that cancer cells or virally infected cells will mistake the modified compounds for the natural substrates and incorporate them into a metabolic pathway. The altered stmc-ture of the false substrate will, it is hoped, then bring that process to a halt and result in cell death. 

Viral infections pose a major health risk for the global population. Many viruses are readily transmitted through common activities. While some viral diseases are not serious, many viral conditions cause a patient to be more susceptible to other, more serious secondary infections. Complicating the treatment and prevention of viral infections is the fact that viruses readily mutate. New mutants, if viable as a virus, are often resistant to existing drug treatments. Because of the widespread mutational resistance observed in various viruses, new drugs for the treatment of viral diseases are continuously sought. 

This chapter concerns the development of cell culture technology for viral vaccine production, which is related to (a) a need for prophylaxis and/or treatment of the most important viral diseases, such as AIDS, hepatitis C, influenza, and papillomavirus (b) the establishment of current molecular technologies, and (c) a reduction in risk factors for the manipulation of live viral particles. 

Table 21.3 shows the clinical studies that have been conducted worldwide, with their different applications, showing that therapies intended for monogenic disease treatment are the second most assessed group, after therapies for tumor treatment. The most used vectors in gene therapy clinical studies are viral vectors (68%), and among those, retroviruses and adenoviruses are the viruses of choice. Synthetic vectors were used in 25% of the studies performed, and about 16% correspond to the use of naked plasmid DNA (Table 21.4). 

Wainwright M. Local treatment of viral disease using photodynamic therapy. IntJAnti-microb Agents 2003 21 510-20. 

The purpose of this chapter is to review and discuss the preclinical safety evaluation strategy for vaccine approaches to the prophylaxis and treatment of viral diseases. This chapter will discuss the newer approaches to vaccination and will include recombinant proteins, peptides, polysaccharides, DNA plasmids, and viral vectors with and without adjuvants. It is outside the scope of this chapter to discuss whole cells expressing immunogens, live attenuated viruses, bacteria, or parasites. 

Interferons (IFN) are glycoproteins that, among other products, are released from virus-infected cells. In neighboring cells, interferon stimulates the production of antiviral proteins. These inhibit the synthesis of viral proteins by (preferential) destruction of viral DNA or by suppressing its translation. Interferons are not directed against a specific virus, but have a broad spectrum of antiviral action that is, however, species-specific. Thus, interferon for use in humans must be obtained from cells of human origin, such as leukocytes (IFN-a), fibroblasts (IFN-p), or lymphocytes (IFN-y). Interferons are used in the treatment of certain viral diseases, as well as malignant neoplasias and autoimmune diseases e.g., IFN-a for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C and hairy cell leukemia and IFN-p in severe herpes virus infections and multiple sclerosis. 

The reaction of 1-methylisatin and semicarbazone yielded methisazone, a compound that found use in the treatment of variola, a viral disease that has now been eradicated (Scheme 55). 

In 2001, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 61, a prodrug of tenofovir was approved for treatment of HIV, subsequently being preregistered in the USA for treatment of hepatitis B. Emtricitabine 62, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, was approved in 2003 for HIV. What is of import is that these compounds are now part of fixed dose combination therapies for treatment of HIV, either two drug (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine) or three drug Atripla (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine/efavirenz) formulations. Thus, even 50 + years after Bergmann s discovery of bioactive arabinose nucleosides, small molecules synthesised as result of his discoveries are still in clinical use and others are in clinical trials for treatment of viral diseases. 

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