• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Monday, February 6, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Immunology

Study reveals how HIV infection may contribute to metabolic conditions

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
July 25, 2019
in Immunology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
1
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute

A single viral factor released from HIV-infected cells may wreak havoc on the body and lead to the development of chronic and potentially deadly diseases like heart disease, diabetes and dementia, according to a new study by scientists at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne.

By explaining the mechanisms, it paves the way for targeted treatment that could help provide a longer and healthier life for the 36 million people globally living with HIV/AIDS.

The treatment of HIV/AIDS is so advanced that today life expectancy of people living with HIV is very similar to that of uninfected persons. However, people with HIV may experience co-morbidities like heart disease, diabetes, dementia or related complications. Studies show that not only are people living with HIV at increased risk of these chronic diseases, they are occurring at an earlier age and progress faster.

These co-morbidities persist even after successful application of antiretroviral therapy, when no virus is found in the blood. Scientists have been intrigued as to what is going on in the small number of infected cells, believing that HIV-infected cells instead of the virus release a toxic substance that kills cells around them.

Most co-morbidities of HIV infection share a common element in their pathogenesis, impairment of cholesterol metabolism but exactly how and what was happening remained a mystery. But in this new study published in PLOS Pathogens, Baker Institute scientists have been able to pinpoint the mechanisms involved.

Baker Institute scientists showed that the HIV protein, Nef, released from infected cells in specialised vesicles, is taken up by uninfected ‘bystander’ cells, impairing cholesterol metabolism in these cells.

This impairment triggers inflammation, contributing to the development of diseases including dementia, heart disease and diabetes.

Head of Lipoproteins and Atherosclerosis at the Baker Institute, Professor Dmitri Sviridov says the study demonstrates how a single viral molecule released from infected cells into circulation may contribute to a range of pathogenic responses.

“The good news is that there are many drugs on the market and in development to tackle impaired cholesterol metabolism which could be repurposed for this specific population to effectively treat these diseases,” says Professor Sviridov.

###

Media Contact
Tracey Ellis
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007907

Tags: AIDS/HIVCholesterolInfectious/Emerging DiseasesMedicine/HealthMetabolism/Metabolic Diseases
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

IMAGE

UMass Amherst grad student awarded fellowship for food allergy research

July 23, 2021
IMAGE

Less-sensitive COVID-19 tests may still achieve optimal results if enough people tested

July 22, 2021

Public trust in CDC, FDA, and Fauci holds steady, survey shows

July 20, 2021

USC study shows male-female differences in immune cell function

July 19, 2021
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Jean du Terrail, Senior Machine Learning Scientist at Owkin

    Nature Medicine publishes breakthrough Owkin research on the first ever use of federated learning to train deep learning models on multiple hospitals’ histopathology data

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Metal-free batteries raise hope for more sustainable and economical grids

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • First made-in-Singapore antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) approved to enter clinical trials

    58 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 15
  • One-pot reaction creates versatile building block for bioactive molecules

    37 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

$1.6M gift to Markey Cancer Center will establish endowed chair in gynecologic oncology

VUMC’s ‘Shed-MEDS’ protocol can reduce risk of drug interactions in older people

Scientists pinpoint protein that helps cancer-causing viruses evade immune response

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 43 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In