Can iron depletion inside macrophages serve to prolong HIV disease progression?
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- 作者：Esaki Muthu Shankar ; Ramach ; ran Vignesh ; Vijayakumar Velu ; Esakimuthu Ponmalar ; Kailapuri G. Murugavel ; Muthu Sundaram ; Pachamuthu Balakrishnan ; Suniti Solomon
- 关键词：HIV/AIDS ; Iron ; Macrophage ; Opportunistic infections
- 刊名：Bioscience Hypotheses
- 出版年：2009
- 出版时间：2009
- 年：2009
- 卷：2
- 期：3
- 页码：125-127
- 全文大小：98 K
文摘
Studies have shown that the more iron in a given population, the more that population is vulnerable to intracellular opportunistic infections (OIs) in AIDS, mainly because these microbes make use of the intracellular iron to proliferate, and could render infections deadly. In contrast, macrophages that lack iron are effective in preventing an establishment of infection. We propose that reduction in total body iron could be a valuable treatment option for some intracellular infections, including OIs. We suggest two options to deprive pathogens of using intracellular iron (i) to practice regular blood-letting, an ancient treatment option, and (ii) to down-regulate hepcidin, the key hormone involved in the regulation of iron balance and recycling. This could also deprive transformed cells of metabolizing iron for survival. Whether or these methods serve to curb the onset of OIs/cancers to prolong HIV disease progression remains to be investigated.