Bridging the Gap: Conference Record [Abstract book, International Conference on AIDS (12th: 1998: Geneva, Switzerland)]

1010 Abstracts 60047-60051

12th World AIDS Conference

hance community awareness of HIV/AIDS and build the communitys' capacity to
prevent HIV/AIDS and to care for PWAs.
Project: About 50 AIDS community workers (volunteers) from Nkumba community have been trained by TASO - Entebbe. These community workers with the
help of the local council administration visit women groups in peri - urban areas
of Entebbe town. The aim of these visits is to promote HIV/AIDS awareness, give
education on matters of family health, safer sex and protection from STDs. Methods used during these visits include talks, discussions, distribution of pamphlets,
folk music and dance, seminars and showing video films.
Results: It was observed that the majority of women were ignorant about
HIV/AIDS much as they had heard about it. Many thought they could not influence behaviours of their husbands but after a number of talks and discussions,
many are willing to talk to their husbands. These talks have helped to remove
misconceptions on matters related to sex and HIV/AIDS. Many women confide in
the community workers their problems and seek solutions.
Lessons Learned: HIV/AIDS community programmes can remove misconceptions about sex and sexuality, STDs and AIDS, gradually leading to behaviour
change.
60047 Sexual behaviors and alcohol use among college
students
Nangnoy Nakornkhet, J.W.E. Crowe, M.R.T. Torabi, K.D. Ding. HPER 116
Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405, USA
Objectives: To compare sexual behaviors and alcohol use among college students.
Methods: The Personal Health Behavior Survey was used to collect data from
982 college students from two Midwestern Universities based on their drinking
behaviors during the past 30 days. Student samples were classified into three
groups: not drinking at all, drinking moderately, and drinking heavily. Sexual
behaviors were tested among the three groups by using chi-square approach.
Results: Over 90% of heavy drinkers had ever had sexual intercourse compared to 41% of those who didn't drink at all. Although heavy drinkers were
more likely to use drugs before having sex and have more than one sex partner
compared to non drinkers (58.6% vs. 1%, and 82.8% vs. 38.8%, respectively), the
percentage of condom use of the two group respondents showed no significant
difference (p = 0.3). A slightly higher percentage of pregnancy involvement was
found among non drinkers than that among heavy drinkers (20% vs. 17.2%, p =
0.01). Comparisons of sexual behaviors between gender and between American
students and international students were further conducted for non-drinkers. It
was found that there was no behavioral difference between gender when both
were non-drinkers. A larger portion of American students used drugs when having
sex compared to their counterparts (29.3% vs. 13.1%, p = 0.001). There were
no statistically significant differences were found for condom use, number of
partners, and pregnancy involvement.
Conclusion: The findings recommended that drinkers and non-drinkers both
practiced well regarding condom use when having sex. However, heavy drinkers
were more likely to adopt unhealthy sexual lifestyles such as drug use and having
more partners.
60048 Experimental research on traditional Chinese medicine:
ZY-II recipe for SAIDS treatment
Chongfen Guan1, S.L. Xu2, R.X. Wen3, Y.X. Zhang4, H. Shen5, H. Wang6, P. Li7.
China Academy of TCM, 18 Beixincang, Beijing 100700, PR China
Objictive: Traditional Chinese medicine - ZY-Il recipe revealed some effects in
126 AIDS patients treated in Tazania. Experimental study was made in animal
model monkey, the antiviral immunomodulatory and pathological effect of ZY-Il
recipe was observed.
Methods: The ZY-II recipe was used for expermental treatment on model monkey of 9 rhesuses infected with SIVmac 251 and set up AZT and control group.
Effect of drugs was monitored by plasma vinal titer, SIV P27 antigen level, CD4
cell count and neopterin test at baseline, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. The titer of plasma
virus was determind by a quantitative viral islation. The expression of P27 antigen
in plasma was assayed by a ELISA kit from cellular products Inc (N.Y.USA). CD4
analysis was performed by flow cytometry and neopterin test was detected by
ELISA method (supported by Dr. John L. Fahey of Fogarty AITRP).
Results: The experimental results showed that as compared with AZT and
control group, the ZY-IIl recipe could not only reduce the viral titer of plasma no
less than 2 log and the P27 antigen of plasma was decreased from 122 pg/ml
to 48 pg/ml, but also the CD4 cell count was increased to approach the normal
level. In addtion ZY-Il recipe could regulate the level of neopterin in plasma. In
the pathological examination, We discovered that ZY-IIl repice could activate and
proliferate cells in lymph follicles germinal centre, paracortical zone and medullary
cord of lymph nodes.
Conclusion: The ZY-IIl recipe could inhibit the virus of plasma and P27 antigen
and regulate the immunity of organism. The experimental result in ZY-IIl recipe
group was superior to those in AZT and control group at present, the result of

toxicologucal research indicated that it is a safe and effective Chinese herbal
medicine in treating AIDS.

S60049 Anti-inflammatory alkaloid cepharanthine inhibits HIV-1
replication in chronically infected cells
Masanori Baba1, Mika Okamoto1, M. Ono2. 1 Faculty of Med., Kagoshima
University, 8-35-1, Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890; 2Kaken Shoyaku Co., Ltd.,
Tokyo, Japan
Objectives: To determine whether cepharanthine, a clinically approved drug for
the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases in Japan, inhibits HIV-1 replication
in chronically infected cells.
Design: Cepharanthine is a biscoclaurine alkaloid isolated from Stephania
Cepharantha Hayata and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, and immunomodulatory activities in vivo. As several inflammatory cytokines
and oxidative stresses are involved in the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection, we investigated the inhibitory effects of cepharanthine on TNF-a- and phorbol myristate
acetate (PMA)-induced HIV-1 expression in chronically infected cell lines.
Methods: Two HIV-1 chronically infected cell lines, U1 (monocytic) and ACH-2
(T-lymphocytic), were stimulated with TNF-a or PMA in the presence of various
concentrations of the compound. After a 3-day incubation, the production of HIV-1
was determined by a p24 antigen ELISA. The inhibitory effects of cepharanthine
on HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR)-driven gene expression and nuclear factor
KB (NF-KB) activation were examined in HeLa and U1 cells, respectively.
Results: Cepharanthine dose-dependently inhibited HIV-1 expression in
TNF-a- and PMA-stimulated U1 cells but not in ACH-2 cells. Its 50% effective and cytotoxic concentrations were 0.016 and 2.2 /tg/ml in PMA-stimulated U1
cells, respectively. Cepharanthine was found to suppress the HIV-1 LTR-driven
gene expression through the inhibition of NF-KB activation.
Conclusions: Cepharanthine proved to be a highly potent inhibitor of HIV-1
expression in a monocytic cell line. As it is widely used for the treatment of
patients with various inflammatory diseases in Japan, the compound should be
further pursued for its chemotherapeutic potential in HIV-1-infected patients.
60050 | Epidemiological survey of HIV/AIDS at the University
Hospital of Kuala Lumpur (UHKL) - analysis of 382 cases
from 1986 to 1977 (July)
Jing Wang12, R.B. Isamail1. 1 C/O Rokiah Ismail Dept. of Medicine, Faculty of
Medicine University Malaya, Malaysia; 2Qinghai Medical College Hospita,
Xining, China
Background: To analyze the epidemiological features associated with HIV infection at UHKL.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of all the HIV infected patients seen in UHKL
from 1986 to July 1977. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected.
Results: 382 study patients were included in this group. 343 (89.8%) were in
the age of 20 to 49. 220 (57.6%) of the patients are single. Chinese comprised
the largest ethnic group (59.7%). The majority (211 cases) acquired the infection
heterosexually (56.4%). 227 (59.4%) presented symptomatic diseases; of these
170 (44.5%) developed ADI; with Tuberculosis 57 cases (33.5%) and PCP 41
cases (24.1%). Of the heterosexually acquired HIV patients, 77 of 135 (57.0%)
had CD4 cell count <200/ul and 106 of 211 (59.2%) with diagnosis of ADI, while
among the injecting drug users 12 of 56 (18.5%) had CD4 cell count <200/ul and
40 of 87 (31.5%) with diagnosis of ADI (both p < 0.01). Of the 113 tested married
couples 40 spouses was positive (35.4%). 55 of the 193 AIDS patients were on
anti-retroviral therapy.
Conclusions: The predominant age group is 20 to 49. Heterosexually acquired
HIV occurs mainly in the Chinese while injecting drug use and sharing of needles
in Malay and Indian. Heterosexually acquired HIV patients presented to the hospital later than those who acquired the infection from sharing of needles. TB is
the most common ADI followed by PCP.
60051 Forgetting in the recall of sexual and drug injection
partners
Devon D. Brewer12, S.B. Garrett2, S.L. Kulasingam2. University of Washington
Seattle, 3937 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
Background: Provider referral partner notification activities and social network
studies of HIV transmission involve interviewing people to elicit their sexual
and/or drag injection partners. Incomplete recall of partners in these contexts
would significantly hamper efforts to understand and control the spread of HIV.
Although many reasons exist why individuals might not name their partners in
such interviews, memory factors are likely to figure prominently.
Methods: Subjects were 156 persons in Seattle (USA) at high risk for HIV
infection due to their sexual behavior and/or injection drug use who participated
anonymously. Subjects recalled their sexual and/or injection partners in two
interviews separated by either 1 week or 3 months.
Results: Repeated, nonspecific, open-ended prompting elicited an appreciable portion of partners who might not have otherwise been recalled. Subjects
displayed substantial forgetting of sexual and injection partners as indicated by
partners mentioned in one interview but not the other for comparable time peri
ods. Other results focus on subject correlates of forgetting, types of partners most
likely to be forgotten, and subjects' self-reported reasons for forgetting particular
partners.
Conclusions: Repeated, nonspecific, open-ended prompting is essential for
maximizing recall of sexual and drug injection partners. Even with such prompting,
however, forgetting of sexual and drug injection partners is substantial in a single
interview. Reinterviewing is currently the best method available for identifying