Important note: Information in this article was accurate in January 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, January 15, 2001
Prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports
There is a high incidence of cardiopathy associated with HIV infections, although its mechanisms are not completely understood. Researchers from West Virginia University, in a study published in the American Journal of Heart and Circulatory Physiology, explained that this dysfunction may be explained by the effects of the virus itself, secondary effects mediated by cytokines, or, possibly, a combination of both.
In their study, published in the journal's December 2000 issue, lead author M.S. Finkel and associates investigated possible mechanisms of HIV related myocardial dysfunction using neonatal rat cardiac myocytes (CM). The study centered around the effects of the HIV envelope gp120 on nitric oxide (NO) synthase in CM.
"Direct effects of HIV gp120 on CM may provide a previously unrecognized mechanism contributing to HIV cardiomyopathy," the researchers said.
Finkel et al. found that although HIV gp120 itself does not induce NO production in CM, used in combination with interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) it greatly enhances NO activity.
Specifically, this combination significantly improved inducible NO synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression, iNOS protein synthesis, and NO production compared to IL-1 beta alone (P<.05 for all).
Finally, Finkel et al. explained that these effects on NO activity were blocked by SB-203580 (SB), a selective p38 protein kinase inhibitor. This p38 activity increased IL-1 beta activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, they said ("HIV gp120 enhances NO production cardiac myocytes through p38MAP kinase-mediated NF-kappa B activation," Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2000 Dec;279(6):H3138-43.
The corresponding author for this study is M.S. Finkel, West Virginia University, Department of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Medical Center Drive, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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