Gum disease found to worsen infection in animal model of AIDS
May slow treatment effect in early stages of disease
February 1, 2013 - Texas Biomed scientists in San Antonio have found that moderate gum disease
in an animal model exposed to an AIDS- like virus had more viral variants causing infection and greater inflammation.
Both of these features have potential negative implications in long term disease progression, including other
kinds of infections, the researchers say in a new report.
The public health message from the study is that even mild inflammation in the mouth needs to be controlled because it can
lead to more serious consequences, said Luis Giavedoni, Ph. D, a Texas Biomed virologist and first author of the study.
"This is important because moderate gum disease is present in more than 50 percent of the world population. It is known that
severe gum disease leads to generalized inflammation and a number of other health complications, but the conditions that we created
were moderate and they were mainly localized in the mouth," he added.
"After infection with the simian AIDS virus, the generalized acute inflammation induced by the virus was exacerbated in the
animals with gingivitis, indicating that even mild localized inflammation can lead to a more severe systemic inflammation," he added.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and conducted at Texas Biomed's Southwest National Primate
Research Center (SNPRC), appears in the February 2013 issue of the Journal of Virology . Collaborators included scientists at
the Dental School at UT Health Science Center San Antonio and at Seattle Biomed in Washington State.
Giavedoni and his colleagues studied whether inflammation of the mouth would increase the susceptibility of the monkeys to
becoming infected with the monkey AIDS virus. This was based on epidemiological evidence that shows that infection and inflammation of the
genital mucosa increases the chances of becoming infected with HIV by the sexual route.
The scientists induced moderate gum inflammation in a group of monkeys, while a second group without gum inflammation served
as a control. After exposing both groups of macaques to infectious SIV, a monkey virus similar to AIDS, in the mouth they did not observe
differences in the rate of infection, indicating the moderate gum disease did not increase the chances of getting infected with the AIDS
virus.
"However, we did observe that the animals that had gum inflammation and got infected had more viral variants causing
infection and they also showed augmented systemic inflammation after infection; both of these findings may negatively affect the
progression of the viral infection." Giavedoni said.
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This work was supported by NIH grants R01 DE017541 and R24 OD01396. Support for the SNPRC was funded by grants P51 RR013986
and OD P51 OD011133.
Texas Biomed, formerly the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, is one of the world's leading independent biomedical
research institutions dedicated to advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research. Located on a 200-acre campus on the
northwest side of San Antonio, Texas Biomed partners with hundreds of researchers and institutions around the world, targeting advances
in the fight against AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, parasitic infections and a host of other infectious diseases, as well as cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, psychiatric disorders, and problems of pregnancy. For more information on Texas Biomed,
go to www.TxBiomed.org , or call Joe Carey, Texas Biomed's Vice President for Public Affairs, at 210-258-9437.
Contact:
Joseph Carey
jcarey@txbiomed.org
210-258-9437
Texas Biomedical Research Institute
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/tbri-gdf013113.php
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