St. John's Wort Protein Suppresses HIV

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From Forbes.....

 

Health

St. John's Wort Protein Suppresses HIV

By Randy Dotinga

HealthDay Reporter

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2005/10/27/hscout528781.html

 

THURSDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- In a surprising

finding, scientists are reporting that HIV appears to

crumple when it encounters a protein found in St.

John's wort, the plant that produces a popular herbal

supplement.

 

But if you're an AIDS patient, don't go rushing to the

health food store just yet. The research is

preliminary and far from the human-testing stage. And

over-the-counter St. John's wort supplements don't

appear to contain enough of the protein to effectively

combat the AIDS virus.

 

Still, the scientists behind the research think they

may be onto something. While the biology underpinning

their experiments is complex, the findings are simple:

The protein " suppresses HIV replication, " at least in

brain cells tested in a laboratory, said study author

Kamel Khalili, acting chairman of Temple University's

Department of Neuroscience.

 

" It's another hope for people who have HIV infection

and AIDS, " he said.

 

The results of the study, which was partially funded

through grants from the National Institutes of Health,

appear in the Oct. 27 issue of Gene Therapy.

 

St. John's wort has one of the highest profiles of any

herbal supplement, although there's controversy about

whether it actually improves health. The herbal

treatment is extracted from the St. John's wort plant,

and supposedly provides relief for depression and

anxiety, although critics dispute its alleged powers.

 

The potential connection between the plant and HIV is

the product of serendipity. Khalili and his colleagues

were studying whether St. John's wort has any effect

on diseased brain cells when a team member suggested

testing it on HIV. The researchers liked the idea. So

they cloned a newly discovered protein, called p27SJ,

and used it to treat laboratory samples of

HIV-infected brain cells.

 

The St. John's wort protein appeared to stop

HIV-infected cells from reproducing by interfering

with their genetic machinery, Khalili said.

 

Drug treatments commonly shrink levels of HIV in the

blood to zero, but the infection can remain active in

the brain. Research released earlier this month

suggests that the disease eats away at the brains of

HIV patients even when they're on AIDS drugs.

 

The new findings are promising, said Paul M. Thompson,

a neuroscience researcher at the University of

California, Los Angeles and co-author of the

brain-thinning study. But there's still a big

question: Will doctors be able to get the protein into

the brains of HIV patients?

 

Humans come with a built-in barrier that keeps germs

from slipping from the bloodstream into the brain. But

it also can keep out helpful drugs.

 

If the St. John's wort protein can't manage to slip

through the blood-brain barrier, " then the focus

becomes, how do you smuggle it in? " Thompson asked.

" That's a much more difficult question. "

 

There's also the matter of finding sufficient supplies

of the protein. The researchers tested St. John's wort

supplements found on store shelves, but it appeared to

have little, if any, effect on the HIV germs, Khalili

said.

 

" I don't think the regular pills will do anything, "

Khalili said. But the hope is that researchers will

find a way to make new pills that would work, he

added.

 

More information

 

Learn more about St. John's wort from the National

Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Best regards,

Carol

 

_______________________________

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