Faculty Bibliography

The incidence of cerebral palsy in babies with very low birth weight was substantially lower among those whose mothers received injections of a certain drug in the hours before giving birth, two new studies show. The drug is an inexpensive natural chemical, magnesium sulfate, that obstetricians often inject as an intravenous infusion when a woman goes into labor prematurely. The intention is to try to stop the labor and to prevent convulsions from pre-eclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy. Their mothers had received magnesium sulfate for medical reasons, not to prevent cerebral palsy. Thus, researchers cautioned that proof that magnesium sulfate prevented cerebral palsy would require more studies, like randomly giving magnesium sulfate to some pregnant women and not others

Scientists from the National Institute of Dental Research reported the week of Jan 29, 1995 that a small protein in human saliva blocks the AIDS virus, HIV, from infecting human cells in the test tube. The protein might help explain why the spread of the virus through saliva is apparently so rare, said the scientists. The protein, known as SLPI for secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor, attaches to the surface of white blood cells known as monocytes, thus preventing infection

The meeting, on human retroviruses and related conditions, produced some notes of hope as well. Researchers from Columbia University said they have found very strong evidence that a virus they recently discovered causes Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer that frequently occurs among AIDS patients, and participants at the meeting said researchers elsewhere have confirmed the findings. The virus appears to be the largest of the several in the herpes group that cause disease in humans...

Researchers reported on Feb 2, 1995 that a link between vitamin A deficiency and transmission of the AIDS virus from mother to infant has been found in a study in Africa. The report is believed to be the first to show that maternal nutritional deficiencies can affect the transmission of HIV

A link between vitamin A deficiency and transmission of the AIDS virus from mother to infant has been found in a study in Africa, researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore and their colleagues in Malawi reported at a meeting here Thursday. The report is believed to be the first to show that maternal nutritional deficiencies can affect the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, said Dr. Richard D. Semba of Johns Hopkins Hospital, the leader of the research team. He reported the findings at the closing session of a meeting sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology

A new combination of AIDS drugs, AZT and lamivudine, seems to suppress the AIDS virus more effectively and for longer than existing combinations of drugs, preliminary results of four American and European studies show

A new combination of AIDS drugs seems to suppress the AIDS virus more effectively and for longer than existing combinations of drugs, preliminary results of four American and European studies show. AZT, which was the first licensed drug against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, when used in combination with an experimental drug known as 3TC or lamivudine also raises levels critical of immune cells in the blood, known as CD4, for six months or more. Both drugs work by interrupting a key step in the life cycle of HIV

At a meeting in Washington DC on Jan 31, 1995, Columbia University researchers said they had found strong new evidence that a recently discovered virus causes Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer that frequently occurs among AIDS patients. The new agent belongs to the herpes group of viruses, which is different from the group that includes HIV

Bernard N. Fields, a leading microbiologist and virologist who strongly influenced the direction of viral research, died on Jan 31, 1995 of pancreatic cancer. He was 56

Columbia University researchers in Washington Tuesday said that they had found very strong new evidence that a recently discovered virus causes Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer that frequently occurs among AIDS patients. The new Kaposi's sarcoma agent belongs to the herpes group of viruses, which is different from the group that includes HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Dr. Patrick Moore and Dr. Yuan Chang, who headed the team that made the discovery, said they had tentatively named the agent Kaposi Sarcoma Associated Herpes Virus, or KSHV. The discovery was initially reported in preliminary form in December