Title |
Premature and accelerated aging: HIV or HAART?
|
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Published in |
Frontiers in Genetics, January 2013
|
DOI | 10.3389/fgene.2012.00328 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Reuben L. Smith, Richard de Boer, Stanley Brul, Yelena Budovskaya, Hans van der Spek |
Abstract |
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly increased life expectancy of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive population. Nevertheless, the average lifespan of HIV-patients remains shorter compared to uninfected individuals. Immunosenescence, a current explanation for this difference invokes heavily on viral stimulus despite HAART efficiency in viral suppression. We propose here that the premature and accelerated aging of HIV-patients can also be caused by adverse effects of antiretroviral drugs, specifically those that affect the mitochondria. The nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) antiretroviral drug class for instance, is known to cause depletion of mitochondrial DNA via inhibition of the mitochondrial specific DNA polymerase-γ. Besides NRTIs, other antiretroviral drug classes such as protease inhibitors also cause severe mitochondrial damage by increasing oxidative stress and diminishing mitochondrial function. We also discuss important areas for future research and argue in favor of the use of Caenorhabditis elegans as a novel model system for studying these effects. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 33% |
South Africa | 1 | 11% |
Canada | 1 | 11% |
Netherlands | 1 | 11% |
Unknown | 3 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 7 | 78% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 22% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
Portugal | 1 | <1% |
France | 1 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 199 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 43 | 21% |
Researcher | 36 | 18% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 34 | 17% |
Student > Bachelor | 27 | 13% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 10 | 5% |
Other | 21 | 10% |
Unknown | 32 | 16% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 47 | 23% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 34 | 17% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 25 | 12% |
Immunology and Microbiology | 14 | 7% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 8 | 4% |
Other | 37 | 18% |
Unknown | 38 | 19% |