Amzar File

Herb Used In Chinese Therapy May Help Fight Aids

Dec 22 -- A herb used in Chinese therapy may provide succour to HIV patients as well as help in other immuno-deficiency and age-related diseases, according to researchers.

"The ability to enhance telomeric activity and anti-viral functions of CD8 T-lymphocytes suggests that this strategy could be useful in treating HIV disease, as well as immuno-deficiency and increased susceptibility to other viral infections associated with chronic diseases or aging," the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted a researcher as saying in a study conducted at UCLA AIDS Institute, Los Angeles.

The study has found that a chemical from the astragalus root, often used in Chinese herbal therapy, can prevent or slow the progressive telomere shortening, which can make it a key weapon in the fight against AIDS.

"This has the potential to be either added to or possibly even replace the HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy), which is not tolerated well by some patients and is also costly," said study co-author Rita Effros, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and member of the AIDS Institute.

Like other kinds of cells like immune cells lose the ability to divide as they age because a part of their chromosomes known as a telomere becomes progressively shorter with cell division. As a result, the cell changes in many ways, and its disease fighting ability is compromised.

-- BERNAMA