Antidepressants A Possible Cure for HIV and Cancer

Released on: August 19, 2008, 12:41 am

Press Release Author: Anna

Industry: Healthcare

Press Release Summary: United States, New York, New York, May 21, 2008 -
DrugStoreTM.Com offers something fresh to provide you, Antidepressants: A Possible
Cure for HIV and Cancer?

Press Release Body: United States, New York, New York, May 21, 2008 -
DrugStoreTM.Com offers something fresh to provide you, Antidepressants: A Possible
Cure for HIV and Cancer?

Why Antidepressants can be a possible cure for HIV and Cancer?

A group of experts recently disclosed that antidepressant drugs may help the immune
system fight serious illnes. They said that antidepressants enhance the activity of
natural killer cells, key elements of the immune system, and could help the body
combat infections such as HIV and even cancer.

Natural killer (NK) cells are white blood cells which home in on infected or
cancerous cells, releasing agents that induce apoptosis, or "cell suicide." NK cells
are especially active against viruses.

What can we expect from DrugstoreTMs Anti-Depressants?
The research emerged from findings that stress and depression impair NK cell
function and can accelerate the progress of HIV/AIDS. Scientists recruited depressed
and non-depressed HIV-positive women and treated them with three drugs to treat
stress and depression. Two, Citalopram and the "substance P antagonist" CP-96345
increased NK cell activity, while RU486 had no effect.

These drugs were selected because, as the authors state, each of these drugs affect
underlying regulatory systems that have been extensively investigated in both stress
and depression research as well as immune and viral research.
The study leader, Dr. Dwight Evans of the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia, said that the findings show that natural killer cell function in HIV
infection may be enhanced by selective serotonin re-uptake inhibition and substance
P antagonism. The results are published in Biological Psychiatry.
They also presented findings which provide evidence that natural killer cell
function in HIV infection may be enhanced by selective serotonin reuptake inhibition
and also by substance P antagonism in both depressed and non-depressed individuals.

The functioning of natural killer (NK) cells, which are a major element of the
innate immunity system and are involved in the bodys first line of defense against
infections such as HIV, is decreased in both HIV and depression.
The experts agree that these findings will begin to pave the way towards initiating
clinical studies addressing the potential role of antidepressants in improving
natural killer cell innate immunity, possibly delaying HIV disease progression and
extending survival with HIV infection.

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