Researchers Identify New Cause of Infection in People with HIV

Data has recently shown that while current antiretroviral therapies for human immunodeficiency virus or HIV are found to be highly effective, people living with the disease appear to experience faster aging and live shorter lifespans by five to 10 years, compared to those who do not have HIV.

These results have been linked to chronic inflammation, which could result in an earlier onset of age-related illnesses like atherosclerosis, cancers, or neurocognitive deterioration.

A new study led by Boston Medical Center researchers investigated what factors could be adding to such inflammation. More so, they identified the incapability of controlling HIV RNA production from existing in DNA as a probable key driver of inflammation.

The results which the Journal of Infectious Diseases recently published highlight the need to develop new therapies that target the "persistent inflammation" in individuals living with HIV to improve outcomes.

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HIV, a Permanent Part of an Infected Peron's DNA

After infection, the study authors specify in their research, "HIV becomes a part of the DNA of an infected person forever." In most circumstances, infected cells are silent and do not duplicate the virus.

Occasionally though, the study indicates that RNA is produced from this HIV DNA, which is the initial step towards replicating the virus.

Antiretroviral therapies contribute to the prevention of complications related to HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS.

However, they do not prevent the chronic infection that is common among individuals with HIV and is linked to mortality.

A Study of More than 50 Individuals Living with HIV

According to physician-scientist Nina Lin, MD, from Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, their study "set out to identify a probable link between HIV latently infected cells with chronic inflammation" in individuals who have suppressed viral loads.

Reports on this research specify that investigators engaged a cohort of 57 individuals with HIV treated with antiretroviral therapy. Specifically, they compared infection in the blood and several virus measurements among younger people aged below 35 years old and older individuals aged over 50 years old living with HIV.

In addition, as indicated in their work, the study authors also compared the capability of the inflammation present in the blood to stimulate the production of HIV "from the silent cells with the HIV genome."

Their results propose that incapability of controlling HIV RNA production even with antiretroviral drugs links to inflammation.

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Novel Treatments Needed

BMC infectious diseases physician and researcher Manish Sagar, MD, says their findings propose that there is a need for novel treatments to target the "inflammation persistent in people living with HIV."

Sagar, the study's corresponding author, also said present antiretroviral drugs are preventing new infections. However, they do not stop the production of HIV RNA, which their results point to as a potential key factor driving inflammation in individuals living with HIV.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is approximated that roughly 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV. However, an estimated 14 percent of these people are unaware that they are infected.

Another report from the CDC states that of the people diagnosed and undiagnosed with HIV in 2018, 76 percent had been provided with some form of HIV care.

Fifty-eight percent remained in care, while 65 percent had undetectable or inhibited HIV viral loads. Antiretroviral therapy prevents the progression of HIV and puts the transmission risk almost to zero.

Study investigators note that such results need to be duplicated in bigger groups. According to Sagar, they hope their study results would serve "as a springboard of examining drugs" that prevent the production of HIV RNA as a way of reducing inflammation.

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