Bonjour,
I am looking for topics and abstracts of the women and VIH conference
which took place in Washington on the 22th to the 24th februar of 1995.
If you have got something or some reference to give us please mail us.
Best regards from Paris.
Yves Menager 100665.2…@compuserve.com

I am interested in asking a few questions of anyone who has sold their
life insurance policy (viaticated their policy) to a company called
Personal Choice Opportunities (PCO). If you or a relative or a friend have
sold your policy to PCO, please contact me by e-mail. Thanks for your
help.

P.S. I am not selling anything!

–
e…@pipeline.com

Sorry, we need your help because a 22 years young girl has to die at
Leukaemia. Maybe, you can help… please read our website
http://www.ist1.de    
(German and English Version available)

Thank you.

We are three life science students from Mt. Shasta High School.  Our names
are Erin Foster, Ayrielle Goins, and John Heile.
We are conducting a survey on blood types.  In our science project, were
are trying to find out what blood type is most common in the United
States.  We are going to compare our responses to the national
frequencies.  

Would you respond by telling us your blood type? (A, B, AB, O, and the Rh
factor, + and -)

Thank you.

HARMONY Magazine-Health Issues- Provocative, Fun, FREE

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**** PLEASE RESPOND TO DHELF…@NBC.COM****
        Have you ever been turned down for insurance and not been told
why by the insurance company?
        We are looking for you, if you have been refused medical or life
insurance — but the insurance company did not say why it refused
coverage —
        Or, you were denied coverage because the insurance company said
you had some health problem that you really did not have.
        If you or someone you know has had this experience, we are
interested in speaking to you.
        Please contact us at dhelf…@nbc.com and let us know where we
can call to speak with you.
        Thanks.

I need any info. available on natural treatments for Hepatitis C. Thank
you.

The following business wire details recent successes with stimulation
of the immune system in cancer therapies. In particular, the sections
on CMV and IL-2 are probably of immediate interest in this forum.

     ("This sentiment was underscored by several speakers,
including University of Washington researcher Dr. Philip Greenberg. He

had isolated CTLs from a patient with cytomegalovirus, cloned them,
and administered them to 14 CMV patients — preventing recurrence of
the disease in all of them. But he found that unless his patients
began to produce their own helper T cells, their adopted CTLs all
disappeared within a few weeks. Dr. Greenberg is now genetically
modifying CTLs to  enable them to survive without the stimulus of
helper-T-cells. ")

Remember that helper T cells are required to initiate the response
by CTLs.
(see diagram at http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1290/hiv.html)

and studies such as the following one (which suggests that CD8s
stimulate the development of CTLs but not helper cells) seem to imply,

at least in the case of CMV in cancer patients, that a lack
of helper T cells  is likely responsible for the depletion of
cytotoxic response to CMV.

Fung-Leung WP, Schilham MW, Rahemtulla A, Kundig TM, Vollenweider M,
Potter J, van Ewijk W, Mak TW: CD8 is needed for development of
cytotoxic T cells but not helper T cells. Cell 1991 May 3; 65(3):443-9

ABSTRACT

A mutant mouse strain without CD8 (Lyt-2 and Lyt-3) expression on the
cell surface has been gernerated by disrupting the Lyt-2 gene using
embryonic stem cell technology. In these mice, CD8+ T lymphocytes are
not present in peripheral lymphoid organs, but the CD4+ T lymphocyte
population seems to be unaltered. Cytotoxic response of T lymphocytes
from these mice against alloantigens and viral antigens is
dramatically decreased. Proliferative response against alloantigens
and in vivo help to B lymphocytes, however, are not affected. These
data suggest that CD8 is necessary for the maturation and positive
selection of class I MHC restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes but is not
required on any of the intermediate thymocyte populations
(CD8+CD4-TcR- or CD4+CD8+TcRlow) during the development of
functional class II MCH restricted helper T cells.

Monday, 14 October 1996

               NEW YORK CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 11, 1996–Defining

the molecular structure of antigens recognized by T cells or
antibodies has had a profound impact on our thinking and aspirations,
began Dr. Lloyd J. Old, introducing Cancer Vaccines 1996, a three-day
symposium sponsored by the Cancer Research Institute. Not only
has it removed tumor immunology from its perceived backwater
status and placed it in the mainstream of immunological thought, but
it has also provided the requisite foundation for tumor immunologists
oldest dream — the cancer vaccine.

               At Broadways Hudson Theater this week, more than 400
scientists from around the  world assembled to present the multitude
of findings — and frustrations — that have marked the last few years

of cancer vaccine research. Symposium chairman Dr. Old,
director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the
Cancer Research Institutes Scientific Advisory Council, opened the
discussion by depicting the tremendous progress that has been achieved

since Cancer Vaccines 1994, the inaugural conference of the Cancer
Research Institutes annual Cancer Immunotherapy International
Symposium series.

               That meeting two years ago represented a landmark in
the history of tumor immunology, celebrating the transition of the
field from its initial phenomenological origins, to the refounding of
the field on the solid base of structural information about tumor
antigens, said Dr. Old.

               In particular, Dr. Old emphasized what would prove to
be a theme for the talks —  identification of tumor antigens and the
profound impact this has had on the field of cancer immunology.
Antigens — molecules produced and presented by cancer cells —
serve as targets for immune destruction, and so have long
been viewed as the  potential basis for therapeutic vaccines that
could jumpstart the immune system. But scientists needed to
structurally identify these antigens before they could test this
theory.

Identification of Tumor Antigens
It was just a few years ago, however, that Ludwig Institutes
Dr. Thierry Boon, the symposiums first lecturer, identified and
sequenced a tumor antigen. Since then, he has used the genetic-based
approach he developed to clone several more antigens that
can potentially serve as immunotherapeutic targets. More
recently, Dr. Michael  Pfreundschuh, of the Universitat des Saarlandes

in Germany, created an alternative method called SEREX (Serological
Analysis of Recombinantly Expressed Clones), with which he has
successfully isolated additional immunogenic peptides.

               This is just the first glance through the serological
looking-glass, said Dr.  Pfreundschuh, one which may well lead to
clinically successful immunotherapy for a wide spectrum of cancers, he

said.

               Dr. Pramod Srivastava, of Fordham University, has taken

a different path to probing  what he called the vast and variable
repertoire of human antigens. He has discovered that a group of
proteins — called heat shock proteins (HSPs) — act as antigen
chaperones, picking up cellular peptides and delivering them
to MHC molecules for  presentation on the cell surface. Because a
given HSP binds with several different antigens, the HSP-antigen
complex can serve as a polyvalent vaccine, thus providing
one means of dealing with the challenge of immune escape —
the cancer cells tactics for evading the immune response.

Principles of Immune Recognition and Effector Functions

               The second day of the meeting focused on ways to
augment and track the immune systems attack on cancer cells. In the
past, most research has concentrated on mediating the response of
cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), which target and eliminate specific
antigens. But Dr. Phillipa Marrack, of the National Jewish
Center for Immunology and  Respiratory Medicine in Denver, admonished
her audience of the critical importance of eliciting helper T cells,
which transmit the growth signals that sustain CTLs.

               This sentiment was underscored by several speakers,
including University of Washington researcher Dr. Philip Greenberg. He

had isolated CTLs from a patient with cytomegalovirus, cloned them,
and administered them to 14 CMV patients — preventing recurrence of
the disease in all of them. But he found that unless his patients
began to produce their own helper T cells, their adopted CTLs all
disappeared within a few weeks. Dr. Greenberg is now genetically
modifying CTLs to  enable them to survive without the stimulus of
helper-T-cells.

 Construction & Testing of Tumor Vaccines

               The critical question — how to apply these findings
toward the construction of tumor  vaccines — loomed large in
everyones minds, and on the final day of the conference,
several speakers provided answers. Dr. Steven Rosenberg, of
the National Cancer  Institute, who pioneered the use of tumor
infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in identifying the antigens displayed
by tumor cells, is now conducting several clinical trials using the
genes that encode these antigens as the basis for his
therapeutic vaccines. In patients who receive IL-2 — a cytokine whose

only function is to stimulate the immune system — 20% see even bulky
tumors shrink and then disappear altogether, said Rosenberg.
     This shows me that the immune system can reject large tumors.
The question is how?

               Several other speakers, including Dr. Alexander Knuth,
from Krankenhaus Nordwest in Germany, and Dr. Craig Slingluff, of the
University of Virginia, described their current clinical trials
testing the efficacy of peptide-based vaccines in the treatment of
metastatic melanoma. Pittsburgh Cancer Institute researcher
Dr. John Kirkwood, on the other hand, is currently accruing 851
patients for the trial of a vaccine that uses GM2, a carbohydrate,
rather than a peptide, antigen. This is the largest specific
vaccination trial ever, he said.

               The final speaker of the symposium, Johns Hopkins
researcher Dr. Drew Pardoll, described his creation of a tumor cell
vaccine genetically modified to secrete GM-CSF, a cytokine. GM-CSF
attracts antigen-presenting cells to come to the tumor site, picking
up and presenting antigens far more efficiently than the tumor cells
themselves. Dr. Pardoll administered a random double-blinded
trial of Stage IV renal cancer patients, and has seen positive
clinical responses, including inflammation and infiltration of immune
cells at the injection site, in subjects who received the GM-CSF
transduced vaccine.

               Dr. Pardoll concluded by summarizing the advances and
challenges that had come out  of Cancer Vaccines 1996. We have been
presented with so much good science, he said, and although in many
areas there is no consensus, it is a healthy lack of consensus. We
have seen how rapidly the field is evolving. We have the power to
manipulate the immune system — and we are learning how to
wield this power.

               The Cancer Research Institute supports leading-edge
research based on the premise that the human immune system is capable
of fighting, and winning, the battle against cancer. The Institute was

founded in 1953. Since that time it has provided funding for
more than 700 scientists around the world who have contributed to
achieving the goal of mobilizing the immune system against cancer.

               CONTACT: Cancer Research Institute, New York Brian
Quinn, 212/688-7515
—————————————————
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1290
—————————————————

A short history: in December last year I’ve started on
AZT/ddI, but when my CD4′s started to drop again last
spring, I’ve replaced ddI by 3TC.  This seems to be working
well, but now my doctor wants me to start with one of the
protease inhibitors *and* replace AZT by d4T.  A few questions:

- should I really stop AZT?  I feel good, I’ve never had any
  side-effects from it, and my CD4′s aren’t dropping.  If I
  stop AZT now (while they’re still working), can I use them
  again some day?  And is d4T/3TC a good combination?  What
  side effects does d4T have?

- my hospital offers 2 protease inhibitors: Saquinavir and
  Indinavir (or was that Ritanovir?  It’s the one that you
  have to keep in the fridge).  Which one is better?  Which
  one is easier to take?  Should I take both?

- should I switch at all?  My current cocktail seems to be
  working well, why change?  Why not wait til there’s more
  results on the PI’s?  Or is it better to change *before*
  the drugs have stopped working?

Any help appreciated…

Mikkie

–
t…@nikhef.nl            http://wwwcn.cern.ch/~nieuwen

1
Hasui M; Matsuda M; Okutani K; Shigeta S
In vitro antiviral activities of sulfated polysaccharides
from a marine microalga (Cochlodinium polykrikoides) against
human immunodeficiency virus and other enveloped viruses.
Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Japan.
Int J Biol Macromol. 1995 Oct;17(5):293-7.

Abstract:

A marine microalga, Cochlodinium polykrikoides, produces
extracellular sulfated polysaccharides. Isolation and
purification of the polysaccharides were accomplished by
precipitation with ethanol and Cetavlon, followed by
DEAE-cellulose column chromatography (polysaccharides A1 and A2).
These polysaccharides, which were homogeneous when analysed by
both ultracentrifugal and electrophoretic methods, were composed
of mannose, galactose, glucose and uronic acid, together with
sulfate groups (S = 7-8% w/w). Both A1 and A2 inhibited the
cytopathic effect of influenza virus types A and B in MDCK cells,
that of respiratory syncytial virus types A and B in HEp-2 cells,
that of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in MT-4 cells; and,
except A1 for herpes simplex virus type 1 and A2 for
parainfluenza virus type 2 in HMV-2 cells, the cochlodinium
polysaccharides showed no antiviral activity against
parainfluenza virus types 2 and 3, measles virus, mumps virus or
herpes simplex virus type 1 in HMV-2 cells. No cytotoxicity for
host cells was observed with these polysaccharides at a
concentration of 100 micrograms ml-1. Inhibitory effects on
various viruses were achieved at concentrations that were not
markedly inhibitory to the blood coagulation process.

2
Loya S; Bakhanashvili M; Kashman Y; Hizi A
Peyssonols A and B, two novel inhibitors of the reverse
transcriptases of human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2.
Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Sackler School
of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Arch Biochem Biophys. 1995 Feb 1;316(2):789-96.

Abstract:

Two new sesquiterpene hydroquinones, peyssonol A and peyssonol B,
of the Red Sea algae Peyssonelia sp., have been shown to be
potent inhibitors of the RNA-directed DNA synthesis of the
reverse transcriptases (RTs) of human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV)-1 and HIV-2. The DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity is
inhibited to a lesser extent, whereas the RNase H activity is
unaffected. The inhibition of the DNA polymerase activities is
independent of the nature of the template primers used. Peyssonol
A probably binds the RT at a site distinct from those occupied by
the substrates of the RNA-directed DNA synthesis, since the mode
of inhibition is noncompetitive with respect to both dNTP’s and
template primer. This is partially true for peyssonol B, which is
noncompetitive with respect to only dNTP, but is competitive with
respect to the template primer. We have speculated that, since
peyssonol B and the template primer bear no apparent structural
resemblance, the competitive pattern of inhibition can be
explained by an indirect steric hindrance or by the overlap of
the inhibitor and the substrate distinct binding sites of the
enzyme. Alternatively, the binding of the inhibitor to a distinct
site induces conformational changes that distort the binding of
the template primer. Furthermore, we have shown that both
peyssonol A and peyssonol B interfere with the direct binding of
the RT to the template primer, offering an explanation for the
mechanism of the enzyme inhibition. The insensitivity of DNA
polymerase beta and the poor response of DNA polymerase alpha to
peyssonol A make this inhibitor more attractive for the future
development of a potent anti-HIV RT drug.

3
Beress A; Wassermann O; Bruhn T; Beress L; and others
A new procedure for the isolation of anti-HIV compounds
(polysaccharides and polyphenols) from the marine alga Fucus
vesiculosus.
Institute of Toxicology, Christian Albrechts-Universitat, Kiel, Germany.
J Nat Prod. 1993 Apr;56(4):478-88.

Abstract:

Anti-HIV-active polysaccharides and polyphenols were isolated
from the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus by hot H2O extraction of
both the intact and the homogenized algae. This was followed by
XAD2 chromatography and by sequential precipitation of the
non-adsorbed compounds with glacial HOAc and thereafter with
EtOH. The precipitate was solubilized, dialyzed against distilled
H2O, and chromatographed on SP-Sephadex C25 and on QAE-Sephadex
A25. This was followed by gel filtration on Sephadex G50 and
Sephadex G100 and finally by hplc on a Shodex Ionpak S-804
column. For comparison, the commercial product fucoidan, a
sulfated algal polysaccharide, was also further purified by the
chromatographic techniques mentioned above. The isolated
freeze-dried fractions obtained by these procedures were tested
for inhibition of both HIV-induced syncytium formation and HIV
reverse transcriptase enzyme activity. Some of these fractions
inhibited both of these activities at concentrations that were
not cytotoxic.

Lau AF; Siedlecki J; Anleitner J; Patterson GM; and others
Inhibition of reverse transcriptase activity by extracts of cultured
blue-
green algae (cyanophyta).
Cancer Research Center, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu 96813.
Planta Med. 1993 Apr;59(2):148-51.

Abstract:

Lipophilic and hydrophilic extracts of over 900 strains of
cultured blue-green algae (cyanophyta) were examined in vitro for
their ability to inhibit the reverse transcriptases (RT) of avian
myeloblastosis virus (AMV) and human immunodeficiency virus, type
1 (HIV-1). Eighteen (2.0%) aqueous extracts showed activity
against AMV and HIV RTs. The maximal level of RT inhibition
achieved by some of the active extracts was equivalent to that
measured for 3′-azido-2′,3′-di-deoxythymidine (AZT) at 668 ng/ml.
Examination of partially purified fractions prepared by C18
column chromatography demonstrated that the RT inhibition
observed could not be attributed entirely to the degradation of
transcript DNA, template RNA, or enzyme protein in the reaction
mixture. Thus, these results indicate that cultured blue-green
algae may represent a novel source of compounds that inhibit RT
activity, including that of HIV-1.

5
Cardellina JH 2d; Munro MH; Fuller RW; Manfredi KP; and others
A chemical screening strategy for the dereplication and
prioritization of HIV-inhibitory aqueous natural products extracts.
Laboratory of Drug Discovery Research and Development, National
Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702-1201.
J Nat Prod. 1993 Jul;56(7):1123-9.

Abstract:

A relatively high percentage (ca. 15%) of aqueous extracts from
terrestrial plants, cyanobacteria, and marine invertebrates and
algae has exhibited activity in the National Cancer Institute’s
primary AIDS-antiviral screen. By removal of anionic
polysaccharides in a first stage of dereplication, we have
eliminated from further consideration a considerable number of
these extracts. However, a still substantial proportion of the
active extracts remained, from which we wished to select and
prioritize a small percentage for our detailed bioassay-directed
fractionation studies. Therefore, a chemical screening protocol,
utilizing various solid-phase extraction cartridges, has been
developed for a second-stage dereplication and to assist in
prioritization of these extracts for our further investigations.

6
Long EG; Ebrahimzadeh A; White EH; Swisher B; Callaway CS
Alga associated with diarrhea in patients with acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome and in travelers.
Division of Immunologic, Oncologic, and Hematologic Diseases,
Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Jun;28(6):1101-4.

Abstract:

Spherical bodies resembling coccidian oocysts and measuring 8.0
to 9.0 microns in diameter were seen in the stools of eight
persons with explosive, watery diarrhea. Seven had recently
traveled to tropical countries, mostly in the Caribbean, and four
had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The structures were
easily discernible in wet mounts by light microscopy and
contained variable numbers of granular inclusions, but were
refractory to, or stained partially with, 12 commonly used
laboratory stains. Electron microscopy revealed an outer
fibrillar coat, a thin cell wall, granules, and organelles which
were not surrounded by membranes. One type of organelle was
similar to the thylakoid photosynthesizing organelles of
blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). These findings indicate that
the bodies may be a species of blue-green algae.

7
Nakashima H; Kido Y; Kobayashi N; Motoki Y; and others
Purification and characterization of an avian myeloblastosis
and human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase inhibitor,
sulfated polysaccharides extracted from sea algae.
Department of Virology and Parasitology, Yamaguchi University
School of Medicine, Japan.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1987 Oct;31(10):1524-8.

Abstract:

A new reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor was extracted and
purified from the red alga Schizymenia pacifica. The
chromatographic behavior and chemical properties of this sea
algal extract (SAE) suggest that it is a sulfated polysaccharide
having a molecular weight of approximately 2,000,000. SAE is
composed of galactose (73%), sulfonate (20%), and
3,6-anhydrogalactose (0.65%). SAE is a member of the
lambda-carrageenan family, based on its infrared spectrum and
products of hydrolysis. SAE selectively inhibited human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RT and replication in vitro. When
MT-4 cells were treated with more than 10(4) inhibitory units
(IU) of SAE per ml after HIV infection, significant inhibition of
viral antigen synthesis was observed. Furthermore, more than 90%
of cells were viable in the cultures exposed to 4 X 10(4) to 8 X
10(4) IU of SAE per ml, while almost all the MT-4 cells in the
control culture had died by 10 days after HIV infection. The
inhibitory effect of SAE on HIV replication was confirmed by
plaque reduction assays. The 50% inhibitory dose of SAE was 9.5 x
10(3) IU/ml. Chondroitin sulfate A, dermatan sulfate, heparan
sulfate, keratan polysulfate, and heparin also inhibited the RT
of avian myeloblastosis virus. SAE immediately inhibited RT
activity when added to an assay mixture after the start of the
reaction.

8
Gustafson KR; Cardellina JH 2d; Fuller RW; Weislow OS; and others
AIDS-antiviral sulfolipids from cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
Division of Cancer Treatment, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 1989 Aug 16;81(16):1254-8.

Abstract:

A recently developed tetrazolium-based microculture assay was
used to screen extracts of cultured cyanobacteria (blue-green
algae) for inhibition of the cytopathic effects of the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), which is implicated as a
causative agent of AIDS. A number of extracts were found to be
remarkably active against the AIDS virus. A new class of
HIV-1-inhibitory compounds, the sulfonic acid-containing
glycolipids, was discovered through the use of the microculture
assay to guide the fractionation and purification process. The
pure compounds were active against HIV-1 in cultured human
lymphoblastoid CEM, MT-2, LDV-7, and C3-44 cell lines in the
tetrazolium assay as well as in p24 viral protein and syncytium
formation assays.

9
Robinson WE Jr; Montefiori DC; Mitchell WM
Evidence that mannosyl residues are involved in human immunodeficiency
virus type 1 (HIV-1) pathogenesis.
Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University School of
Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 1987 Fall;3(3):265-82.

Abstract:

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the causative agent of
AIDS, is thought to bind to T4+ (CD4+) target cells through the
heavily glycosylated gp120 envelope glycoprotein. Plant lectins
bind glycoproteins through noncovalent interaction with specific
hexose residues; therefore, lectins were evaluated for their
ability to inactivate HIV in vitro. The mannose-specific lectins
concanavalin-A and succinyl concanavalin-A completely inactivated
HIV while lentil lectin, wheat germ agglutinin, and
phytohemagglutinin-P substantially inactivated HIV. BS-II, Vicia
villosa (hairy vetch), and Ptilota plumosa (red marine algae)
failed to alter the infectibility of HIV. Neither simple stearic
hindrance, viral aggregation, nor lectin-cell interactions served
to explain this phenomenon. Glycoprotein glycosylation was
evaluated by differential lectin binding as well as molecular
weight changes in gp120 when virus was produced in the presence
of swainsonine, a glycosylation inhibitor. Lentil lectin bound
gp120 better than concanavalin-A, suggesting the majority of
glycosylation sites are fucosylated. The apparent molecular
weight of gp120 was reduced by swainsonine, although HIV
infectivity and concanavalin-A inactivation were retained. Thus,
at least some N-glycosylation sites are complex-type
glycoproteins but regions external to the (GlcNAc)2(Man)3 core
pentasaccharide region are not required for HIV infectivity. It
appears that the site or sites involved are nonfucosylated, high
mannose and/or biantennary, nonsialylated, N-glycosylated regions
of gp120 or gp41. Alternatively, they may be in close
approximation to such carbohydrate regions.

10
Moen LK; Clark GF
A novel reverse transcriptase inhibitor from Fucus vesiculosus.
Dept. of Chem. and Biochem. Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.
Int Conf AIDS. 1993 Jun 6-11;9(1):145 (abstract no. PO-A03-0061).

Abstract:

Fucoidan is a polysaccharide which has already been identified as
an effective inhibitor of several enveloped viruses in vitro
including HIV (Baba et al, 1988, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.).
The effect of this polysaccharide on HIV infection is due in part
to its ability to block the interaction between gp120 and its
receptor (Parish et al, 1990, J. Immuno.) as well as an ability
to inhibit HIV reverse transcriptase (HIV RT) (Nakashima et al,
1987, J. Canc. Clin. Onc.). The active component of fucoidan is
thought to be the sulfated polysaccharide, and comparisons with
other sulfated polysaccharides have shown that they also possess
inhibitory activity against HIV RT. (Baba et al, 1988,
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.) We report here that we have
isolated a water-soluble, non-carbohydrate component of fucoidan
which inhibits HIV RT in vitro. Tests for hexose, hexosamines,
uronic acid or sulfate groups were negative. FT-IR and elemental
analysis confirm these results. Our kinetic analysis of crude
fucoidan interactions with HIV RT demonstrated mixed inhibition,
suggesting that fucoidan could have more than one component which
inhibits HIV RT. Kinetic analysis of our isolated component
demonstrates classical noncompetitive inhibition with respect to
nucleotide, and competitive inhibition with respect to
primer-template. The simple inhibition patterns suggest that this
component is a single compound which inhibits HIV RT by competing
with the nucleic acid substrate. We are currently investigating
the activity in vivo.

11
Koestenblatt E; Woolrich A; Don P; Szaniawski W
Cutaneous Protothecosis in a patient with AIDS.
Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York Medical College, Valhalla.
Abstr Gen Meet Am Soc Microbiol. 1993;93:255 (abstract no. I-86).

Abstract:

Cutaneous Protothecosis an uncommon infection caused by
achlorophyllic algae is seen primarily in immunosuppressed
patients. Diagnosis may be quite challenging due to the rarity of
the infection as well as the non-specific and variable clinical
picture. Our patient, a 33 year old Hispanic female with AIDS
developed a verrucous plaque on the dorsum of her hand. On
biopsy, numerous thick walled, round to oval, nonbudding
organisms were seen throughout the entire superficial and deep
dermis, along with some morula forms. Smooth, creamy-white,
yeast-like colonies, identified as Prototheca wickerhamii grew
from culture. We believe this is the first report of cutaneous
Protothecosis in a patient with AIDS. We suspect that as the
number of immuno-compromised patients continue to grow, there is
likely to be an increase of infections caused by these unusual
opportunistic organisms.

12
Long EG; Ebrahimzadeh A; White EB; Swisher B; Callaway CS
Alga associated with diarrhea in AIDS patients and in travelers.
Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA
Abstr Annu Meet Am Soc Microbiol. 1990 May 13-17;90:118 (abstract no. D-
227).

Abstract:

Spherical bodies resembling coccidian oocysts and measuring 8.0 –
9.0 um in diameter, were seen in stools from 8 persons with
explosive, watery diarrhea. Seven of these patients had traveled
to tropical countries, mostly in the Carribbean, and 4 of the
patients suffered from AIDS. The structures were easily
discernible in wet mounts by light microscopy, and contained
variable numbers of granular inclusions. They were resistant to
12 commonly used laboratory stains. The outer wall of the
organism stained with the modified acid-fast stain and with
safranin, but weakly with auramine-O fluorescent stain, Giemsa,
Gomori-methenamine-silver, Gram, Gridley-fungus, hematoxylin and
eosin, Lugol’s iodine, methylene blue, periodic acid-Schiff and
trichrome. Electron microscopy revealed an outer fibrillar coat,
a thin cell wall, granules, and organelles that were not
surrounded by membranes. One type of organelle was identified to
the photosynthesizing organelles of blue-green algae, the
thylakoids. The findings indicate that the bodies may be a
species of blue-green alga.