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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: 2) by Joe on Monday June 01 2015, @11:04PM
cancer-cells have a high need for glucose
The preferential use of glycolosis is called the Warburg effect and it is true for most tumors, but it is not an absolute requirement. One of the reasons cancer cells like glycolosis so much, even though it is less effecient at producing energy, is because it produces more precursors needed for the cells to grow and divide.
potential positive effects of low-carb diets on HIV-patients
I don't think there would be anything that specific and I'm not sure how many people would want to get close to a topic that may give fuel to HIV denialists (like the former South African Minister of Health).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_effect#Oncology [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manto_Tshabalala-Msimang [wikipedia.org]
- Joe