Chronic binge alcohol administration accentuates expression of pro-fibrotic and inflammatory genes in the skeletal muscle of simian immunodeficiency virus-infected macaques.

Background: Chronic binge alcohol (CBA) administration exacerbates skeletal muscle (SKM) wasting at the terminal stage of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in rhesus macaques. This is associated with a pro-inflammatory and oxidative milieu which we have previously shown to be associated with a disrupted balance between anabolic and catabolic mechanisms. In this study, we attempted to characterize the SKM gene expression signature in CBA-administered SIV-infected macaques, using the same animals from the previous study.

Chronic Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol administration may not attenuate simian immunodeficiency virus disease progression in female rhesus macaques.

Persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) frequently use cannabinoids, either recreationally by smoking marijuana or therapeutically (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; Δ(9)-THC dronabinol). Previously, we demonstrated that chronic Δ(9)-THC administration decreases early mortality in male simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected macaques. In this study, we sought to examine whether similar protective effects resulted from chronic cannabinoid administration in SIV-infected female rhesus macaques.

Dysregulation of myelopoiesis by chronic alcohol administration during early SIV infection of rhesus macaques.

Background: Chronic alcohol intoxication suppresses immune function and increases osteoporosis risk suggesting bone-tissue cytotoxicity. Human immunodeficiency virus infection leads to similar impairments. This study investigated the effects of chronic alcohol administration during the early stage of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) and their differentiated progeny in the bone marrow and peripheral blood of rhesus macaques.

Modulation of gut-specific mechanisms by chronic δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol administration in male rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus: a systems biology analysis.

Our studies have demonstrated that chronic Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) administration results in a generalized attenuation of viral load and tissue inflammation in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected male rhesus macaques. Gut-associated lymphoid tissue is an important site for HIV replication and inflammation that can impact disease progression. We used a systems approach to examine the duodenal immune environment in 4- to 6-year-old male rhesus monkeys inoculated intravenously with SIVMAC251 after 17 months of chronic THC administration (0.

Disrupted anabolic and catabolic processes may contribute to alcohol-accentuated SAIDS-associated wasting.

Background: Alcohol abuse is a comorbid factor in many human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Previously, we demonstrated that chronic binge alcohol accentuates loss of body mass at terminal stage of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in pathways that may contribute to muscle wasting in chronic binge alcohol-fed SIV-infected macaques.

Cannabinoid neuroimmune modulation of SIV disease.

Marijuana is one of the most commonly used and abused drugs. Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ-9-THC), the primary psychoactive component in marijuana, is FDA-approved to ameliorate AIDS-associated wasting. Because cannabinoid receptors are expressed on cells of the immune system, it is possible that chronic Δ-9-THC use may impact HIV disease progression.

Chronic Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol administration increases lymphocyte CXCR4 expression in rhesus macaques.

Cannabinoids have been reported to produce various immunomodulatory effects, which could potentially impact the host response to bacterial or viral infection. We have recently demonstrated that chronic Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; 0.32 mg/kg i.

Lymphocyte apoptosis in murine Pneumocystis pneumonia.

Background: Apoptosis of lymphocytes is important in the termination of an immune response to infection but has also been shown to have detrimental effects in animal models of systemic infection and sepsis. We sought to characterize lymphocyte apoptosis in an animal model of pneumonia due to Pneumocystis murina, an infection localized to the lungs.

Methods: Control mice and mice depleted of CD4+ lymphocytes were inoculated with Pneumocystis.

Stem cells, phenotypic inversion, and differentiation.

Stem cells possess the potential to cure a myriad of ailments ranging from congenital diseases to illnesses acquired through the physiological process of aging. In the adult, these cells are extremely rare and often difficult to isolate in numbers sufficient to apply to medical treatment. Ex vivo expansion of these cells will be required for most meaningful interventions.