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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A recent discovery about a troubling protein may lead to new HIV treatments.
A recent study found a protein previously linked to Alzheimers disease also promotes entry of HIV into cells. Apolipoprotein E4 (apoE4) has been linked to neurodegeneration in Alzheimers Disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
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Researchers from the J. David Gladstone Institutes, The University of California at San Francisco, the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio studied a group of 1,267 HIV-positive patients and the interactions between apoE and HIV in tissue culture. They found patients with two copies of the apoE4 allele had a much faster disease course and progression to death than patients with two copies of the apoE3 allele.
Previous research has found polymorphisms, or different forms, of host genes play an important role in susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and the rate of disease progression. Understanding these polymorphisms has helped scientists develop new antiviral drugs. The findings about apoE4 only strengthen this understanding.
Although we suspected that apoE4 had a role in infectious disease, this aspect of the study is very exciting for us because we already have studies underway to find small molecules that make apoE4 more like apoE3, Robert W. Mahley, M.D., Ph.D., president of the Gladstone Institutes and study author, was quoted as saying. Now those potential new drugs may have more value than we originally thought.
SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; published online June 18, 2008
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