THE immune system鈥檚 scavenger cells can multiply, say immunologists. This
unexpected discovery may lead to new drugs to fight neurological conditions such
as Alzheimer鈥檚 and a form of dementia that AIDS patients often develop.
杏吧原创s had always believed that these long-lived 鈥渕acrophages鈥� were
formed only from precursor cells called monocytes. But in test-tube experiments,
Brian Herndier of the University of California at San Francisco and his
colleagues have found that macrophages which are infected with HIV can divide
and multiply.
Over-production of macrophages is thought to be a contributing factor in
several brain diseases, including Alzheimer鈥檚 and AIDS dementia. So developing
new drugs that stop these cells dividing may lead to better treatments. 鈥淭his
finding could be extremely important in a host of common human diseases,鈥� says
Herndier.
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