Proteins show promise in AIDS research

March 30, 1998

Web posted at: 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A protein found in the urine of pregnant women apparently can stop the reproduction of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have learned.

And a new study reported in Monday's Nature Medicine suggests that hemophiliacs who were repeatedly given HIV-contaminated infusions temporarily resisted infection because they had high levels of certain immune system proteins known as chemokines.

The protein found in women's urine during early pregnancy is known as HAF, or human chorionic gonadotropin associated factor. It was discovered by accident by a researcher who was studying Kaposi's sarcoma, a rare but deadly cancer that affects some people with HIV.

When male and female mice were inadvertently put together in a cage, researchers noticed that some of the mice failed to develop the cancer. It was discovered that the cancer-free mice had two things in common: they were female and pregnant.

It's significant in its potential in that it has broad activity against a number of the pathological aspects of HIV: it directly blocks the virus, it directly suppresses Kaposi's sarcoma, and improves the capability of blood cells to reproduce themselves," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.

HAF also boosts the immune system by raising the number of T cells, which fight infection, and it prompts the bone marrow to manufacture more blood cells.

The discovery has one additional advantage. Because the protein is produced by the human body, it's non-toxic and has very few side effects.

"These are natural products that haven't been toxic in the concentrations that we used," said Dr. Robert Gallo of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland.