Remember the landmark RV144 study in Thailand a decade ago that was the first clinical trial to show any efficacy of a vaccine for preventing HIV infection? Now, a team of scientists led by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg has found the same regimen can also induce promising immune responses in South Africans, suggesting the vaccine may have the potential to protect against multiple strains of HIV.

In Thailand, the predominant HIV strain is clade B, while clade C is the most common subtype in South Africa. In the new trial, scientists found the RV144 vaccine—containing constructs of HIV clades B and E inserts—showed even higher cellular and humoral immune responses in healthy people in South Africa than in RV144’s Thailand vaccines, according to results published in Science Translational Medicine.

HIV is notorious for its diversity and tendency to mutate, which already makes treating the virus difficult. The same challenge holds true for vaccine development. That’s why the Fred Hutchinson-led team set out to test the RV144 regimen in South Africa and compared immunogenicity data to those from the Thailand study.

One hundred healthy adults participated in the trial, and 91 received all four vaccinations. The researchers evaluated the magnitude and frequency of several immune responses that correlate to infection risk.

Specifically, the vaccine induced strong CD4+ T cells directed at HIV envelope proteins in 51.9% of South Africans, significantly higher than the 36.4% seen in the Thailand trial. And the South Africans’ T cells also scored better on a functionality assay that evaluates how good the cells are at producing cytokines.

They looked at the immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody responses, and participants in the current trial performed better across the board than those from the original RV144 study. They also examined the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), in which immune cells rupture the target cell. Previously, the efficacy of RV144 was correlated with ADCC. Turns out, 72.6% of the trial participants in South Africa responded in the current trial, versus 58.5% of those in Thailand

Back in 2009, RV144 showed just 31.2% effectiveness by month 42. Since then, a variety of research teams have been trying to achieve better protection against as many strains of HIV virus as possible. Scientists led by Duke University previously built on the regimen by adding three more targets to the vaccine construct, making it a pentavalent vaccine. In a study in monkeys, the vaccine achieved 55% protection. Johnson & Johnson recently started testing a different HIV vaccine in a 3,800-person late-stage clinical trial.

The newly reported trial was a precursor to a trial that tested an adapted regimen including subtype C antigens and an adjuvant from GlaxoSmithKline in 252 South African participants. Based on positive interim results from HVTN 100, the National Institutes of Health pushed the new regimen into a large-scale trial that aims to enroll 5,400 men and women, also in South Africa.

The Fred Hutchinson and Johannesburg team did report that the T-cell and antibody responses dropped over time during the trial, “suggesting the utility of additional boosts,” they argued in the study.

But the vaccine’s ability to provide protection against multiple strains of HIV was key, they added. “Our data suggest that the breadth of immune responses elicited by this vaccine regimen may allow for vaccine protection that could extend beyond the clade used for immunogen development, and potentially function as a more global vaccine,” they wrote in the study.

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Staying sharp and warding off dementia might rely, in part, on doing your best to keep high blood pressure at bay. So finds a new study that suggests strict control of hypertension may help prevent dementia.

In the study, researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) used MRIs to scan the brains of hundreds of patients with high blood pressure.

They found that people who got “intensive” control of their high blood pressure showed a slowing of accumulation of certain lesions in the brain’s white matter, compared to people who got “standard” blood pressure treatment.

These white matter lesions reflect changes deep inside the brain, said the team led by Dr. Clinton Wright, director of the Division of Clinical Research at NINDS.

Prior research has suggested that people with high blood pressure are at increased risk for accumulation of white matter lesions and also for mental decline and dementia, he said.

The NINDS-funded study was published Aug. 13 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Getting blood pressure numbers to healthy levels “significantly reduced white matter lesion accumulation in people who had a higher chance of experiencing this kind of damage because they had high blood pressure,” Wright said in a NINDS news release.

The study also found that patients who received intensive blood pressure control had slightly more loss of the brain’s volume, compared to people who got standard treatment. The effect was seen predominantly in men.

However, this loss was generally very small and of unclear clinical significance, the researchers said.

The patients in the study enrolled in the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). The trial involved nearly 9,300 people age 50 or older.

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High blood pressure rarely shows noticeable symptoms so the only way to find out if your blood pressure is high is to have it checked, either by a GP or pharmacist or using a blood pressure monitor at home. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can cause the arteries to thicken, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke, so doing what you can to lower a reading after a diagnosis or keeping blood pressure in check is very important. A healthy diet low in salt and high in fruit and vegetables, regular exercise and not smoking are three major ways to lower blood pressure, according to the NHS. But research over the years has also suggested a natural supplement can have a positive effect on blood pressure.

Garlic has been used as a spice, food and medicine for over 5000 years and is one of the earliest documented herbs utilised for the maintenance of health and treatment of disease.

Proponents suggest that consuming boric as food or taking garlic extract in dietary supplement form can help treat high blood pressure or stop high blood pressure setting in.

According to the National Institutes of Health, garlic seems to be able to modestly reduce blood pressure.

A lot of research has thrown up exciting possibilities for individuals wishing to take a natural approach to blood pressure control.

One of the best natural remedies for lowering blood pressure is taking a garlic supplement.

It’s recommended that a dose of 600-900mg per day of garlic has been shown to bring about significant reductions in blood pressure in those suffering from hypertension.

A study by the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health looked at the potential of garlic in lowering high blood pressure.

The study examined garlic supplements and how they could help treat uncontrolled hypertension and lowering blood pressure. The conclusion of the study indicates that garlic can have an affect on blood pressure, even in people who have high blood pressure.

The study proved that garlic, in particular in the form of the standardisable and highly tolerable aged garlic extract, has the potential to lower blood pressure in hypersensitive individuals similarly to standard blood pressure mediation. 

The available research on garlic and blood pressure includes a report published in BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. In the report, scientists analysed 11 previously published clinical trials and found that garlic was superior to placebo in reducing blood pressure among people with hypertension.

Results revealed that the use of garlic was associated with a decrease in blood pressure among patients with elevated systolic blood pressure. participants without elevated systolic blood pressure.

While increasing your intake of garlic may help enhance your health and protect against high blood pressure, garlic supplements should not be used as a substitute for standard care of hypertension.

In addition to raising your risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke, uncontrolled high blood pressure may lead to major health issues like kidney damage and vision loss.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure is also linked to memory impairment.

If you’re considering the use of garlic in the treatment of high blood pressure, make sure to consult your GP prior to starting your supplement regimen.

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