Patients infected with HIV and treated with antiretroviral treatment still suffer from chronic inflammation, as if the AIDS virus were still active. A new study has found an explanation.
- Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, is caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which destroys the immune defences, that is, it prevents the body from defending itself against diseases.
- Around 38 million people are living with HIV in 2021 worldwide, including 180,000 in France.
- According to Santé Publique France, the number of HIV positive findings is estimated at 5,013 people, compared to 4,753 in 2020 (1.5 million worldwide). 650,000 people are estimated to have died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2021 worldwide.
A team of Australian-American researchers has discovered an explanation for the inflammatory problems suffered by some former AIDS patients. According their workpublished this week in the journal Cellchronic inflammatory processes can continue even after the virus has been completely eliminated from the body.
Chronic inflammation: an HIV protein responsible
Indeed, although today’s antiretroviral therapies are capable of controlling the virus and preventing its replication to the point of making it undetectable in the body of patients after several years of treatment, some of them they still suffer from inflammatory problems.
Manager ? An HIV protein called Nef, according to researchers. The latter selected human immune cells and brought them into contact with the Nef protein in proportions similar to those identified in patients on antiretrovirals with an undetectable viral load.
The same phenomenon could exist for other infections, such as Covid-19
In order to produce an immune response from these cells, the scientists then exposed them to a bacterial toxin. Conclusion: unlike a group of control cells which did not undergo these contacts, those which were confronted with the Nef protein produced an important inflammatory response with the creation of cytokines (soluble proteins which ensure communication between the cells of the immune system). After analyzing the cells exposed to Nef, the researchers observed inflammatory response genes. The latter were, however, absent in cells not exposed to this protein.
According to the team of scientists, the persistence of inflammatory problems could help to understand why some former AIDS patients still suffer from comorbidity, even if the AIDS virus is no longer active. The researchers also hypothesize that similar phenomena could exist for other viral infections, such as Covid-19.