PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Cocaine use can make otherwise resistant immune cells susceptible to HIV

2013-10-02
(Press-News.org) In many ways, the spread of HIV has been fueled by substance abuse. Shared needles and drug users' high-risk sexual behaviors are just some of the ways that narcotics such as cocaine have played a key role in the AIDS epidemic in much of the world.

There is, however, relatively little research into how drugs can impact the body's defenses against the virus. But a new UCLA study published in the October issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology examines how cocaine affects a unique population of immune cells called quiescent CD4 T cells, which are resistant to the virus that causes AIDS.

The results: cocaine makes the cells susceptible to infection with HIV, causing both significant infection and new production of the virus.

"The surprising result was that the changes cocaine induced on these cells were very minimal, yet they were sufficient to fuel infection," said Dimitrios Vatakis, assistant professor of medicine in the division of hematology/oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's senior author. "We found that cocaine mediates its effects directly, inducing minimal changes in the physiology of these cells and utilizing the same pathways it uses to target the brain."

For the year long in vitro study, the researchers collected blood from healthy human donors and isolated quiescent CD4 T cells. They exposed the cells to cocaine, then infected them with HIV. They harvested the samples over different time points to trace the cells' susceptibility to infection at different stages of HIV's life cycle, comparing the infected cells with untreated cells.

They found that a three-day exposure to cocaine made the cells more susceptible to HIV infection by stimulating two receptors in the cells, called σ1 and D4. The findings suggest that cocaine use increases the pool of T cells in the human body that can become infected by the virus.

The researchers caution that, as with all in vitro studies, the results may be skewed. Also, they based their research on an acute—that is, brief--cocaine exposure set-up; by contrast, typical drug users are chronic users, meaning that they take the narcotic over extended time. They do, however, have data from their animal models that support and strengthen their observations.

"We have shown that cocaine modulates the permissiveness of quiescent cells to HIV," the researchers conclude. "The potential for cocaine to augment the pool of HIV target cells with a commensurate increase in the viral reservoir has significant implications for HIV seropositive individuals who abuse or use stimulants such as cocaine."

The next stage in the research will be to more closely examine the means by which cocaine makes these once resistant cells susceptible to infection and if the drug does indeed lead to a higher viral reservoir, and to use humanized mouse models to study how drug abuse affects HIV infection as well as the efficacy of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).

### Study co-authors are Sohn G. Kim, James B. Jung, Dhaval Dixit, Robert Rovner Jr., Jerome A. Zack, and Gayle C. Baldwin, all of UCLA.

A grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (1R21DA031036-01A1) funded this study.

The UCLA AIDS Institute and Center for AIDS Research is a multidisciplinary group of top-flight researchers united in the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS, the first cases of which were reported in 1981 by UCLA physicians. Institute members include researchers in virology and immunology, genetics, cancer, neurology, ophthalmology, epidemiology, social science, public health, nursing and disease prevention. Their findings have led to advances in preventing and treating HIV as well as other diseases such as hepatitis B and C, influenza, TB and cancer. To find out about ways to support these efforts, please contact Laura Pescatore (lpescatore@support.ucla.edu).


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UCLA study finds link between high-fat, high-calorie diet and pancreas cancer

2013-10-02
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that mice made obese by high-calorie, high-fat diets develop abnormally high numbers of lesions known to be precursors to pancreas cancer. This is the first study to show a direct causative link in an animal model between obesity and risk of this deadly cancer. The study, published Sept. 30 in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, was led by Dr. Guido Eibl, a member of the Jonsson Cancer Center and a professor in the department of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. ...

A new paper explores the importance of maintaining ties with family during imprisonment

2013-10-02
Three researchers from the University of Huddersfield have published a paper in the Prison Service Journal looking at the important issue of what affect family ties and relationships can have on the prisoner, as well as how imprisonment can influence the family. This paper presents a qualitative evaluation of the Family Support Project (FSP) delivered at HMP New Hall, a female establishment located in West Yorkshire. The FSP was delivered by one female Family Support Officer (FSO) and managed by Lincolnshire Action Trust (LAT). Semi-structured interviews and focus groups ...

Radioactive shale gas contaminants found at wastewater discharge site

2013-10-02
DURHAM, N.C. -- Elevated levels of radioactivity, salts and metals have been found in river water and sediments at a site where treated water from oil and gas operations is discharged into a western Pennsylvania creek. "Radium levels were about 200 times greater in sediment samples collected where the Josephine Brine Treatment Facility discharges its treated wastewater into Blacklick Creek than in sediment samples collected just upstream of the plant," said Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. The ...

Mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease may be linked with extensive neurodegeneration

2013-10-02
This news release is available in French. Researchers at the University of Montreal and the Institut universitaire de gératrie de Montréal examined brain changes over 20 months in Parkinson's patients with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at the early stages of the disease. Results showed that patients with MCI had significantly more cortical thinning and subcortical atrophy over time compared with patients without MCI, suggesting that early MCI in PD patients may indicate faster neurodegeneration. The specific pattern observed might serve as a marker for ...

Free head, neck cancer screenings have positive impact in urban areas

2013-10-02
DETROIT – Offering free head and neck cancer screenings annually to the community not only has the possibility of early detection, but also the opportunity – particularly in an urban city – to increase a person's understanding of risk factors that cause cancer, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Among those who attend free head and neck cancer screenings, the study finds people who reside in an urban city like Detroit were more likely to be African American, a current smoker and have a history of treatment for some other cancer than those who ...

Key mechanism behind herpes revealed

2013-10-02
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have for the first time managed to measure the internal pressure that enables the herpes virus to infect cells in the human body. The discovery paves the way for the development of new medicines to combat viral infections. The results indicate good chances to stop herpes infections in the future. A virus comprises a thin shell of protein, within which are its genes. A long-standing theory has been that a virus has high internal pressure because it is so tightly packed with genetic material. The pressure means that they can infect ...

Predictors of substance abuse identified among teens with bipolar disorder

2013-10-02
Washington D.C., October 2, 2013 – A study published in the October 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that approximately one in three teens with bipolar disorder developed substance abuse, for the first time, during 4 years of follow-up. The study also identified several risk factors that predicted who among these teens was most likely to develop substance abuse. Using data from the Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth (COBY) study, a group of researchers led by Dr. Benjamin Goldstein, of the University of Toronto ...

Babies born at 37 and 38 weeks are at higher risk for adverse health outcomes

2013-10-02
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Babies considered "early-term," born at 37 or 38 weeks after a mother's last menstrual period, may look as healthy as full-term babies born at 39-41 weeks, but a new study published by University at Buffalo physicians in JAMA Pediatrics has found that many of them are not. The study is considered the first population-based, countywide assessment of neonatal morbidity among early-term infants based on individual medical records in the U.S. "Our results show the need for an increased awareness among health care providers that even though we consider babies ...

Like father, not like son

2013-10-02
The song of songbirds is a learned, complex behavior and subject to strong selective forces. However, it is difficult to tease apart the influence of the genetic background and the environment on the expression of individual variation in song. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen in collaboration with international researchers now compared song and brain structure of parents and offspring in zebra finches that have been raised either with their genetic or foster parents. They also varied the amount of food during breeding. Remarkably, both ...

Radiofrequency ablation effectively treats Barrett's esophagus

2013-10-02
Bethesda, MD -- Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) leads to remission for 91 percent of patients with dysplastic Barrett's esophagus, according to new figures published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Dysplastic Barrett's esophagus is the most serious grade of the condition in which precancerous cells are detected in the esophagus. "In order to make appropriate informed decisions about the use of radiofrequency ablation, patients and providers need to be well versed in the ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

QUT scientists create material to turn waste heat into clean power

Major new report sets out how to tackle the ‘profound and lasting impact’ of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health

Cosmic crime scene: White dwarf found devouring Pluto-like icy world

Major report tackles Covid’s cardiovascular crisis head-on

A third of licensed GPs in England not working in NHS general practice

ChatGPT “thought on the fly” when put through Ancient Greek maths puzzle

Engineers uncover why tiny particles form clusters in turbulent air

GLP-1RA drugs dramatically reduce death and cardiovascular risk in psoriasis patients

Psoriasis linked to increased risk of vision-threatening eye disease, study finds

Reprogramming obesity: New drug from Italian biotech aims to treat the underlying causes of obesity

Type 2 diabetes may accelerate development of multiple chronic diseases, particularly in the early stages, UK Biobank study suggests

Resistance training may improve nerve health, slow aging process, study shows

Common and inexpensive medicine halves the risk of recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer

SwRI-built instruments to monitor, provide advanced warning of space weather events

Breakthrough advances sodium-based battery design

New targeted radiation therapy shows near-complete response in rare sarcoma patients

Does physical frailty contribute to dementia?

Soccer headers and brain health: Study finds changes within folds of the brain

Decoding plants’ language of light

UNC Greensboro study finds ticks carrying Lyme disease moving into western NC

New implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury

New York City's medical specialist advantage may be an illusion, new NYU Tandon research shows

Could a local anesthetic that doesn’t impair motor function be within reach?

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5

In the wild, chimpanzees likely ingest the equivalent of several alcoholic drinks every day

Warming of 2°C intensifies Arctic carbon sink but weakens Alpine sink, study finds

Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production

Indian adolescents are mostly starting their periods at an earlier age than 25 years ago

Temporary medical centers in Gaza known as "Medical Points" (MPs) treat an average of 117 people daily with only about 7 staff per MP

Rates of alcohol-induced deaths among the general population nearly doubled from 1999 to 2024

[Press-News.org] Cocaine use can make otherwise resistant immune cells susceptible to HIV