Hydrogen Sulphide Gas Suppresses Hiv Infection, Finds Study

Hydrogen sulphide gas suppresses HIV infection, finds study

Bengaluru, Dec 7 : In a breakthrough in the fight against HIV infection, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and their collaborators have identified a key role played by hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas in suppressing the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

 Hydrogen Sulphide Gas Suppresses Hiv Infection, Finds Study-TeluguStop.com

Increased H2S was found to have a direct effect on reducing the rate at which the virus multiplies in HIV-infected human immune cells.

This discovery opens the door to more comprehensive antiretroviral treatment for HIV .It was made by a team of researchers from the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc and the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and (CIDR) at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute.The results have been published in the journal eLife.

Current state-of-the-art combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) is not a cure for HIV.It can only suppress the virus, it cannot cause it to become latent.Sometimes, cART can fail even when patients follow their prescribed drug regimen.

CART can also cause negative side effects such as toxic molecules building up and causing ‘oxidative stress’.Also, the mitochondria, which is the cell’s powerhouse, can be damaged.

These effects can cause inflammation and organ damage.Stopping cART is also not an option because the virus can reactivate – emerge from its latent state – in the absence of therapy.

Scientists have recently begun exploring the beneficial effects of the presence of H2S in HIV-infected cells on both oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, according to Amit Singh, Associate Professor in MCB/CIDR and corresponding author of this study.

In a previous study, Singh’s lab developed a tool to measure oxidative stress in cells infected with HIV.

“In that work, we showed that the chemical agent N-acetylcysteine was able to suppress HIV reactivation from latently infected cells,” he explains.

Previous work from Singh’s lab has also looked at the effects of counteracting oxidative stress by an antioxidant nanozyme during HIV infection.We wanted to see if our previous insights on HIV and oxidative stress could be used to show how H2S contributes to HIV infection.”

Since the role of H2S and HIV in HIV was not explored before, the authors had the task of creating experiments from scratch.

“Studying the effects of a gaseous molecule on HIV required us to build and validate new model systems,” says Virender Kumar Pal, a PhD student in MCB and the first author of this study.

” We started with experiments using established cell lines, before moving to cells donated from HIV patients in 2019.Our collaborators at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute and Prof AnnapurnaVyakarnam’s group from CIDR were great help.”

Detecting H2S inside the cells was also not a straightforward task.”Since H2S cannot be detected using conventional biochemical techniques, we had to use colorimetric and fluorometric techniques,” he recalls.

The researchers studied the effects of natural generation of H2S in HIV-infected cells as well as supplementing this with a chemical donor.

“We found a direct effect on HIV reactivation, replication and maintenance of mitochondrial health.Also, we observed all of its other beneficial effects such as dissipation oxidative stress and maintenance of mitochondrial health in our (cellular models).Our results show that H2S levels in infected cells are closely related to HIV latency and activation.”AA

Singh says, “This opens up the possibility of supplementing cART by chemical donors of H2S in order to lock HIV in a deep latency state, potentially improving the lives for millions of people infected with this virus.H2S donors can be quickly repurposed for HIV treatment, as they are already in clinical trials for other diseases.”


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Disclaimer : TeluguStop.com Editorial Team not involved in creation of this article & holds no responsibility for its content..This Article is Provided by IANS, Please contact IANS if any issues in Article .


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