
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990                   TAG: 9004200356
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

PROTEIN IN AIDS VIRUS LINKED TO BRAIN DECLINE

A mental decline suffered by about two-thirds of all AIDS patients may be caused by an AIDS virus protein that forces brain cells to absorb lethal doses of calcium, a Harvard research team reports.

Dr. Stuart A. Lipton, a researcher at Harvard and the Children's Hospital in Boston, said Thursday that if the calcium-absorption mechanism can be proved in further studies, it may be possible to use a calcium-blocking drug to prevent the death of brain cells in AIDS patients.

- Associated Press

by CNB