J Infect Dis: Study reveals the causes of inflammatory response in HIV patients

Nov 1, 2020//--- Despite the current effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy against HIV, data show that people living with HIV appear to be experiencing accelerated aging and life expectancy is reduced by five to ten years compared to people without HIV.
these results are associated with chronic inflammation, which can lead to early onset of age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, or decreased neurocognitive function.
new study, led by researchers at Boston Medical Center, looked at the factors that can lead to this inflammation and found that the inability to control the production of HIV RNA from existing HIV DNA was a potentially critical factor in inflammation.
the results, published in the journal Journal of Infection Diseases, highlight the need to develop new therapies for persistent inflammation of people living with HIV to improve outcomes.
infection, HIV is permanently part of the DNA of the infected person, and in most cases the infected cells are silent and do not replicate the virus.
, RNA is occasionally produced from HIV DNA, which is the first step in virus replication.
antiretroviral therapy can help prevent HIV and AIDS-related complications, but it does not prevent the chronic inflammation and mortality rates that are common in people living with HIV.
"Our study aims to identify a possible link between hiv-infected cells and chronic inflammation in people who are inhibited by HIV," said Dr. Nina Lin, a physician scientist at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine.
study, researchers included 57 people infected with HIV who were treated with antiretroviral therapy.
compared blood inflammation and various viral measurements in young people (under 35 years of age) and older people (older than 50 years of age).
they also compared the presence of inflammation in the blood to activate the ability of silent cells with HIV genomes to produce HIV.
that even the use of antiretroviral drugs could not control the production of HIV RNA associated with inflammation.
, co-author of the study, said: "Our findings suggest that new treatments are needed to address the persistent inflammation of people living with HIV.
current antiretroviral drugs can prevent new infections, but not HIV RNA, and our results see them as a potentially critical factor driving inflammation in people living with HIV.
. (bioon.com) Source: New cause of people with HIV identified Original source: Alex Olson et al, HIV-1 transcription but not intact provirus levels are associated with systemic systemic, The Journal of Associate Diseases (2020). DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa657