Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Human trials planned stanford says drug may retard AIDS
San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, September 27, 1989
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor
A widely prescribed drug used to treat bronchitis and other lung ailments appears to block the reproduction of the AIDS virus in laboratory experiments, Stanford University scientists reported yesterday. The drug's effect on the virus has not been tested yet in either humans or animals, but plans are now being accelerated to conduct the first trials in patients with the disease, according to the scientists. Dr. Leonard Herzenberg, a Stanford professor of genetics, reported on the research yesterday at an international conference of AIDS researchers in Geneva, Switzerland, and stressed that the compound is in no way believed to be a cure for the disease. The prescription drug is known chemically as n-acetylcisteine, or NAC, and has long been used by doctors in an aerosol to clear mucus from the lungs of patients with chronic bronchitis, emphysema and other obstructions in the lungs. It is also prescribed as an antidote to overdoses of Tylenol and other pain-killing versions of acetaminophen. The liquid form that is available in the United States, however, could be dangerous if taken internally, the Stanford researchers said, and would not be effective against AIDS. HOW IT WORKS The key to the drug's action, Herzenberg said, is its ability to increase the levels of a natural compound called glutathione in cells infected with the AIDS virus. Glutathione is one of a class of molecules called thiols that are essential to living processes, and in AIDS patients their thiol levels drop drastically. The drug helps patients with lung ailments by breaking the chemical bonds that hold mucus secretions together. According to Herzenberg, Dr. Wulf Droge, an immunologist at the German Cancer Center in Heidelberg, inspired the Stanford research when he observed that NAC appeared to affect thiol levels in bronchitis patients. In their Stanford laboratory, Herzenberg and his wife, Leonore, who is also a professor of genetics, began testing the drug's effects on the ability of HIV, the AIDS virus, to reproduce in infected cells and to boost the levels of T-4 cells, a critical component of the human immune system. The test-tube results of the drug so far are extremely promising, according to the Herzenbergs. If it works as effectively in the human body as it appears to do in the laboratory, they said, then it may slow the process of infection once the AIDS virus has gained a foothold. It could also prolong life significantly for AIDS patients when used in combination with drugs like AZT, they said. TABLET CAN'T BE IMPORTED In checking the drug's effects on immune system cells in their laboratory experiments, the Herzenbergs used an analytical device called a Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter whose development they have pioneered. Aiding them was a large research team that included Wayne Moore, a post-doctoral fellow, and graduate student Frank Staal. Although the drug's tablet form is available by prescription in Europe, it cannot yet be legally imported into the United States.
Keywords: AIDS; DRUGS; MEDICINE; BAY AREA; US; RESEARCH; N-ACETYLCISTEINE; NAC
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