AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, February 16, 2009
Staff Medical Writers

NewsRx -- According to a study from the United States, "Untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is accompanied by reduced bone mineral density, which appears to be exacerbated by certain HIV protease inhibitors (PIs). The mechanisms leading to this apparent paradox, however, remain unclear."

"We have previously shown that, the HIV envelope glycoprotein gp120 used at levels similar those in plasmas of untreated HIV+ patients, induced expression of the osteoclast (OC) differentiation factor RANKL in CD4+ T cells. in addition, the HIV PI ritonavir abrogated the interferon-gamma-mediated degradation of the RANKL nuclear adapter protein TRAF6, a physiological block to RANKL activity. Here, using oligonucleotide microarrays and quantitative polymerase chain reaction, we explored potential upstream mechanisms for these effects. Ritonavir, but not the HIV PIs indinavir or nelfinavir, up-regulated the production of transcripts for OC growth factors and the non-canonical Wnt Proteins 513 and 711 as well as activated promoters of nuclear factor-kappa B signaling, but suppressed genes involved in canonical Wnt signaling. Similarly, ritonavir blocked the cytoplasmic to nuclear translocation of beta-catenin, the molecular node of the Wnt signaling pathway, in association with enhanced beta-catenin ubiquitination. Exposure of OC precursors to LiCl, an inhibitor of the canonical Wnt antagonist GSK-3 beta, suppressed OC differentiation, as did adenovirus-mediated overexpression of beta-catenin. These data identify, for the first time, a biologically relevant role for Wnt signaling via beta-catenin in isolated OC precursors and the modulation of Wnt signaling by ritonavir," wrote R. Modarresi and colleagues, Cornell University (see also HIV/AIDS).

The researchers concluded: "The reversal of these ritonavir-mediated changes by interferon-gamma provides a model for possible intervention in this metabolic complication of HIV therapy. (Am J Pathol. 2009 Jan;174(1):123-35; DOI: 10.2353/ajpath.2009.080484)'."

Modarresi and colleagues published their study in American Journal of Pathology (WNT/beta-Catenin Signaling Is Involved in Regulation of Osteoclast Differentiation by Human Immunodeficiency Virus Protease Inhibitor Ritonavir Relationship to Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Linked Bone Mineral Loss. Am J Pathol. 2009 Jan;174(1):123-35.

For more information, contact J. Laurence, Cornell University, Weill Med College, Laboratory AIDS Virus Research, Division Hematology Oncology, 411 E 69th St., New York City, NY 10021, USA.

Publisher contact information for the American Journal of Pathology is: American Society Investigative Pathology, Inc., 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3993, USA.

Keywords: United States, New York, HIV/AIDS, AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Anti-Infectives, Bone, Diagnosis, Diagnostics, Drugs, Enzyme Research, Enzymology, HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Immunology, Indinavir, Interferon, Interferon Gamma, Nelfinavir, Pathology, Pharmaceuticals, Physiology, Polymerase, Protease Inhibitor, Protease Inhibitors, Ritonavir, Sexually Transmitted Disease, Therapy, Treatment, Viral, Virology, Cornell University.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

2009-02-16
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