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New strategy to halt HIV growth: block its sugar and nutrient pipeline. HIV has a voracious sweet tooth, which turns out to be its Achilles' heel, reports a new study from Northwestern Medicine and Vanderbilt University.
After the virus invades an activated immune cell, it craves sugar and nutrients from the cell to replicate and fuel its wild growth throughout the body.
Scientists discovered the switch that turns on the immune cell's abundant sugar and nutrient pipeline. Then they blocked the switch with an experimental compound, shutting down the pipeline, and, thereby, starving HIV to death. The virus was unable to replicate in human cells in vitro.
The discovery may have applications in treating cancer, which also has an immense appetite for sugar and other nutrients in the cell, which it needs to grow and spread.
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2015/05/hivs-sweet-tooth-is-its-downfall.html
[Abstract]: http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004864
Original Submission
(Score: 3, Informative) by opinionated_science on Monday June 01 2015, @03:36PM
The biology generally support the assertion that "glucose is need for fast growing cells.". Deprived of carbohydrate the human metabolism is able to survive fine on ketones produced from fat, but this also suggested restricted energy production.
There is clinical evidence that fasting (generally, but dropping carbohydrate below ketotic limit), focus the body on repair not proliferation. A general suppression of the immune system is also observed.
In general, it does raise the question whether the obesity epidemic is the real cause of so many secondary disorders, by providing far more fuel than is necessary to the body?
In the case of HIV as a viral disease, I have not read of any clinical association data to obesity. However the principle of immune modulation through glucose control is potentially relevant.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Monday June 01 2015, @04:46PM
Anecdotal evidence: I did notice a steep performance-drop when running medium distances. I assume this is because carbohydrates are usually stored in the muscle tissue and fuel the body for the first 30 minutes or so, providing easily accessible energy.
Anecdotal evidence: For the immune system, I did not notice any negative impact due to the diet, rather the opposite as far as minor flues etc. are concerned. However, it requires some caution avoid some pitfalls. Lack of fibre, vitamins (yes, I know that vitamins are overrated, but I'm not yet convinced they are entirely useless) and magnesium. Green vegetables, linen-seed and olives are helpful.
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Tuesday June 02 2015, @04:23AM
when running your expenditure determines the body's use of resources, not the other way around. However, the accumulation of lactic acid and lack of glucose, will of course, cause the feeling of fatigue. The trick is not to run so fast, and aim for 60% aerobic potential. The body is then able to gently shift from stored glycogen to ketosis. After approximately 40 mins, you can start to increase pace and find the sweet spot for your personal metabolism.
This has all been clinically documented, only I'm in no position to find the citations right now - the study was on marathon runners and calorific consumption, but it was a while since I read it.