Faculty Articles

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels in HIV-1 seropositive injecting drug users.

Publication Title

Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology

ISSN

1557-1890

Publication Date

9-1-2009

Keywords

Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Cell Separation, Cold Temperature, Ethnic Groups, Female, HIV Seropositivity, HIV-1, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Monocytes, Pressure, RNA, RNA, Messenger, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Substance Abuse, Intravenous, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Young Adult

Abstract

TNF-alpha is a highly pleiotropic cytokine and plays an important role in regulating HIV-1 replication. It may compromise the integrity of the blood-brain-barrier and, thus, may contribute to the neurotoxicity of HIV-1-infection. Both intravenous drug abuse (IDU) and HIV infection can increase TNF-alpha activity, but little information is available on the effects of a combination of these factors on TNF-alpha. We investigated plasma TNF-alpha levels and mRNA in the peripheral monocytes of 166 men and women in three groups: HIV-1-positive IDUs, HIV-1-negative IDUs, and HIV-negative non-IDU control participants. HIV-1-positive IDUs had higher TNF-alpha levels than HIV-1-negative IDUs who, in turn, had higher levels than controls. TNF-alpha mRNA expression in peripheral monocytes was significantly increased in both HIV-1-positive and negative IDUs compared to controls. These findings show that the effects of HIV infection and intravenous drug use may be additive in increasing TNF-alpha levels. Given the multiple effects of TNF-alpha in HIV infection, additional investigation of its role is needed.

DOI

10.1007/s11481-009-9150-x

Volume

4

Issue

3

First Page

350

Last Page

358

Disciplines

Medical Specialties | Medicine and Health Sciences | Osteopathic Medicine and Osteopathy

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