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. To have more idea on our news please visit us at http://www.drugstoretm.com
