Since combined antiretroviral therapy has given HIV-infected people many years of life, scientists are interested in a new question: how does HIV affect the aging process?.
The latest study showed that HIV-infected patients, even under condition of adequate treatment, lose an average of 5 years of life due to premature aging caused by the disease.
The results of this work were published in the journal Molecular Cell.
The authors recall that the virus of immunodeficiency, once penetrated into the body of the victim, has never, in spite of any therapy, does not leave it.
HIV attacks immune cells, making a person extremely vulnerable to infections and certain types of cancer. Without treatment, HIV-infected patients develop a clinical picture of AIDS after a while.
Despite the impossibility of complete cure, antiretroviral therapy (ART) allows patients to lead a practically normal life, albeit with some limitations.
Employees of the University of Nebraska in Omaha and their colleagues from the University of California in San Diego decided to find out how HIV infection affects the longevity of such patients.
Their study included 137 people with HIV, but without any complications or co-morbidities that could distort performance. All participants received combined antiretroviral therapy and were constantly observed at the medical center.
The control group consisted of 44 HIV-negative participants. Also to confirm the results was taken an independent mixed group of 48 people, among whom were both healthy and infected.
Unexpected epigenetic changes.
In their work, American scientists used the latest equipment to determine the epigenetic changes in cells, namely methylation of DNA - the attachment of methyl groups to cytosine, one of the bases of DNA.
These are "surface" changes that do not affect the sequence of DNA bases. Such changes can be transmitted to the next generation of cells, influencing the expression of certain genes in them.
If we believe the results of the study, HIV infection leads to an acceleration of biological aging by an average of 4.9 years, which translates into an increase in the risk of death by 19%.
"It has already been proven that methylation, then and there, occurs throughout the genome as it ages. It remains unclear how these changes accelerate the aging process, but methylation can serve as a reliable indicator of the age of the cells, "says study author Professor of Genetics Trey Ideker (Trey Ideker).
Scientists did not expect that methylation patterns are almost the same in people who were infected with HIV 5 years ago, and those who live with a virus in the blood for 10-12 years or more.
"Treatment of HIV-infected people has completely changed. Those issues, which were not at all on the agenda 20 years ago, now come to the fore. Now we are worried about how to protect them from premature aging, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative diseases, liver diseases, etc..
"- Professor Howard Fox (Howard Fox) from the Medical Center of the University of Nebraska.
Currently, scientists are looking for ways to deal with epigenetic changes that prematurely age the HIV-infected. While these methods are not found, they advise such people to lead a healthy lifestyle, eat right and give up bad habits that can destroy their already weakened health.
Recall, the first case of Alzheimer's disease was recently registered in an elderly person who lived many years with HIV infection.
medbe. en.