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22 MONTROSE VOICE/APRIL 17, 1987
New Clue to Why AIDS
Develops in Some People
By Gayle Young
UPI Science Writer
NEW YORK—Repeated bouts with
colds, flu and other common infections
may trigger the development of AIDS in
people who have already been infected
with the HIV virus, researchers
reported Wednesday.
Scientists at the Whitehead Institute
in Cambridge, Mass., said their studies
may prove a widely held theory that the
HIV virus that causes AIDS spreads
whenever the body's immune system is
activated by common, usually trivial,
viral and bacterial infections.
Eventually, the spread of the virus
leads to full-blown AIDS and the destruction of the immune system, the
researchers said.
"We don't want to leave the impression you get a cold and then get a rampant disease," Dr. Gary Nabel, a
researcher at the institute said. "This is
a case of chipping away at something
over time."
The AIDS virus, or HIV for human
immunodeficiency virus, can cause no
symptoms for five to seven years after
infection, although the incubation
period is shorter in many cases.
During this lag time, the HIV virus
probably reproduces each time the
body's immune system is activated,
Nabel and researcher David Baltimore
reported in the British science Journal
Nature.
They said their laboratory studies
indicate the HIV virus lodges in the
immune system's T-cells, where they
reproduce whenever the cells respond to
other viruses and bacteria that enter the
body.
The researchers were even able to pinpoint the specific protein, identified as
NF-KappaB, that is released by the T-
cells and which binds to the HIV virus
and causes it to reproduce, probably kil-
'My Salary Was
So High... I
Quit'
NEW YORK (UPI)—Workers give all
kinds of excuses for quitting their jobs,
ranging from a desire to "write poetry
on the beach" to embarrassment at
being paid too much.
A survey released Monday said that
100 ofthe nation's 1,000 largest corporations responded to the poll conducted by
Accountemps, a temporary personnel
service. It quoted some reasons given by
employees who quit their jobs, including:
—"I'm going to be much happier as a
dog trainer than I am as a management
consultant."
—"They said I couldn't take short nap
breaks twice a day."
—"I want to write poetry on the
beach."
—"My salary was so high, it made me
uncomfortable. So I quit."
—"They wouldn't let me keep my talking mynah bird in a cage in my own
office."
—"The job was fine, but it was no
place to meet men. Too many of them
were bald, with bow ties, suspenders
and white socks."
—"Now that I won't have any money
coming in, I can stop paying alimony."
"The results make it eminently clear
that the decision to leave a job is not
always based on logic and self-
interest," a spokesman for Accountemps said.
ling the T-cell in the process.
Over time, the amount of HIV virus
increases while the number of T-cells
decrease, Nabel said.
"Generally you can tolerate the loss of
some cells," he said. "We don't know
when someone reaches that critical
point where you can say they definitely
have AIDS, when they have too few T-
cells to ward off major infections."
People with AIDS have crippled
immune systems that allow opportunistic infections such as pneumonia and
tuberculosis to invade their bodies.
Doctors estimate 30 percent of people
who are exposed to the AIDS virus actu
ally develop the disease, although they
say the percentage may prove much
higher.
The researchers said they did not
know why some people who have been
exposed to the AIDS virus eventually
get the disease and others do not. But
they said the viruses and bacteria that
may trigger the HIV virus to reproduce
are extremely common.
"Our bodies' immune systems are
always battling something," Nabel
said.
Nabel said about one in every 1,000 to
10,000 T-cells is activated when bacteria
or viruses enter the body. He said other
research has indicated the HIV virus
reproduces at the same rate.
"There was evidence that HIV replication was linked to T-cell activation,
we wanted to find the mechanism," he
said.
The protein that causes HIV to reproduce is found in all T-cells, he said.
"It suggests a steady progression
toward AIDS," Baltimore said. "It
doesn't suggest any (cure) right away...
it helps us understand better what is
going on."
Nabel said the researchers isolated T-
cells in the laboratory and infected
them with HIV virus. He said the cells
were then prodded into action with a
laboratory-made stimulant, but said
natural bacteria and viruses would
cause an identical reaction.
By studying the reaction, researchers
were able to identify the T-cell protein
that caused the virus to reproduce.
High Race Final Line
Naturally
Starts Venture-N aprx. 2:00pm
Finishes at Mary's
Bonnet Judging at Chutes 6:00pm
Heels requested & Bonnets requested
Prizes!!
Trophies!!
&
Blisters!!
1022
Westheimer
528-8851
j^yr
G
w5
Morning:
7am-Noon
Monday-Saturday
i_f_S
Afternoon;
Evening:
11 30pm-l2 30arr
Can Beer Si 25
Draft Dorr 75c
Well Dr;nks Si 7::
Snois St 25
Lary
Thompson,
D.J.
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