Posted on 08/14/2009 8:18:43 PM PDT by neverdem
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Two existing drugs used to treat osteoporosis may be effective in killing influenza viruses, including the new H1N1 swine flu and the H5N1 bird flu viruses, researchers in Hong Kong have found.
The two drugs are pamidronate and zoledronate, which are marketed by Novartis AG under the brand names Aredia and Reclast, respectively.
In their experiment, the researchers exposed human cells that had been infected with the influenza viruses to the two drugs.
They observed that the drugs triggered extra production of a type of white blood cell called yd-T cells, which went on to kill human cells that were infected with the flu viruses.
Flu viruses can only replicate in living human or animal cells and killing infected cells would stop the viruses from replicating, the researchers said.
Professor Lau Yu-lung at the University of Hong Kong's pediatrics and adolescent medicine department described the infected human cells as "factories that will produce viruses."
"These drugs attack the viruses specifically ... This approach kills the factories that are producing viruses."
Malik Peiris, also part of the research team, said the drugs could enhance immune responses of the human body...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
On a side note:
Most of this R&D will disappear if Obammie the Commie succeeds in turning medicine in the US into a government-run operation.
1 in 10,000 compounds tested by drug companies passes the FDA.
Of these, 1 in 4 makes it to the shelf and turns a profit.
Capital outlay is a HUGE risk in “big pharma.”
Let the government control the application of these compounds (to control costs) and capital will disappear overnight.
Influenza virus directly infects human natural killer cells and induces cell apoptosis.
I wonder if the cell killing properties would be sufficient to ward off a "cytokine storm", apparently the cause of many if not all the deaths attributed to H5N1.
you queston = your question
In Far East names such as Lau Yu-lung mentioned in the Reuters story, the surname is given first, just as you do author searches at PubMed, i.e. Lau YL.
The yd-T cells mentioned in the Reuters story is probabaly a lame translation/transliteration of gammadelta T cells. I can see the similarity between a scripted 'y' and the Greek symbol for the letter gamma.
Qin G, Mao H, Zheng J, Sia SF, Liu Y, Chan PL, Lam KT, Peiris JS, Lau YL , Tu W.
Background. Influenza virus is a cause of substantial annual morbidity and mortality worldwide. The potential emergence of a new pandemic strain (eg, avian influenza virus) is a major concern. Currently available vaccines and anti-influenza drugs have limited effectiveness for influenza virus infections, especially for new pandemic strains. Therefore, there is an acute need to develop alternative strategies for influenza therapy. gammadelta T cells have potent antiviral activities against different viruses, but no data are available concerning their antiviral activity against influenza viruses. Methods. In this study, we used virus-infected primary human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) to examine the antiviral activity of phosphoantigen isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP)-expanded human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells against influenza viruses. Results. Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells were selectively activated and expanded by IPP from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. IPP-expanded Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells efficiently killed MDMs infected with human (H1N1) or avian (H9N2 or H5N1) influenza virus and significantly inhibited viral replication. The cytotoxicity of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells against influenza virus-infected MDMs was dependent on NKG2D activation and was mediated by Fas-Fas ligand and perforin-granzyme B pathways. Conclusion. Our findings suggest a potentially novel therapeutic approach to seasonal, zoonotic avian, and pandemic influenza-the use of phosphoantigens to activate gammadelta T cells against influenza virus infections.
Notice the date: J Infect Dis. 2009 Aug 5. What if these bisphosphonates or isopentenyl pyrophosphate make influenza vaccines completely superfluous, especially since they are constantly mutating?
Now since the WHO and the US government has no problem with involuntary quarantines, I'm sure everyone knows which folks Cuba places in involuntary quarantine.
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