ATS News Tips/May Journals
For Release:
May 29, 1997, 6:00 p.m.
The May issues of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) journals include: an
ATS assessment of new TB diagnostic tests which are called a "significant
advance;"
a study finding that critically ill patients with cardiovascular disease
should unergo red cell transfusions; and an expert perspective raising the
hypothesis that nitric oxide may inhibit gene therapy.
New TB Diagnostic Tests Seen As Significant Advance But Not Yet Read As A
Singular Evaluation
An American Thoracic Society (ATS) workshop on recently approved rapid
diagnostic tests for tuberculosis found that the new technology represents
a major improvement over standard diagnostic testing but added that more
data are needed before determining their clinical and public health
utility. Workshop participants reported that the direct application tests
(DAT) are significantly more sensitive than the widely-used
acid-fast-bacilli (AFB) test. When the DAT and AFB tests are both
positive, a diagnosis of TB is established. When both are negative, it is
believed unlikely that TB is present. When results differ, it is
recommended that the newer DAT be used in conjunction with clinical
assessment and repeat testing. The workshop findings are carried in the
May issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care
Medicine.
Red Cell Transfusion Recommended For Critically Ill Patients With
Cardiovascular Disease
Canadian Researchers reported that severely ill cardiovascular patients do
not tolerate anemia as well as critically ill patients with other diseases.
They recommended that red cell transfusions be given to such CVD patients
to minimize the risk associated with anemia. The study was designed to
examine the impact of transfusion on critically ill patients. They said
they could not determine what caused increased mortality fom anemia among
CVD patients. The report was carried in the May issue of the American
Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Nitric Oxide May Limit Gene Transfer in Gene Therapy
In a special "Perspectives" article, Dr. Joseph Beckman of Alabama and Dr.
James Crapo of Duke report that despite immense efforts, gene therapy
remains an elusive goal for the treatment of genetic disorders, such as
cystic fibrosis. Although the most popula approach is to use
adenovirus-derived factors, it has had little success in the treatment of
cystic fibrosis, they said. They cite research with healthy males
suffering from colds which showed an enormous increase in nitrates in
urine. One related hypothesis, they report, is that nitric oxide strongly
depresses viral reproduction in tissue. The authors said that a better
understanding of how nitric oxide inhibits adenovirus protein expression is
needed and will also help illuminate how the lung helps defend itself from
viral infections as well as improve attempts at gene therapy. The
"Perspectives" article was carried in the May issue of the American Journal
of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology."
For the complete text of the above cited articles or for more information,
call Christina Shepherd at 212 315-6440 or fax her at 212 315-6455.
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