Alcohol increases SIV 64-fold in monkeys: implications for HIV transmission

Edwin J. Bernard
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This article is more than 22 years old.

Alcohol increases SIV 64-fold in monkeys: implications for HIV transmission

Both HIV and alcohol suppress the immune system, but little is known about the interaction between the two, and how drinking large amounts of alcohol affects HIV replication, particularly in primary infection.

Researchers at the University of Louisville Medical Center used simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of rhesus monkeys to examine the combined effects of chronic, binge alcohol consumption on the primary stage of SIV/HIV infection. The monkeys were given either alcohol or sucrose for four days per week for three months. The alcohol doses were roughly the human equivalent of 6 to 10 drinks over a five-hour period. After three months, seven alcohol-treated and seven sucrose-treated monkeys were infected with SIV.

Glossary

simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)

An HIV-like virus that can infect monkeys and apes and can cause a disease similar to AIDS. Because HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) are closely related viruses, researchers study SIV as a way to learn more about HIV. However, SIV cannot infect humans, and HIV cannot infect monkeys. 

drug interaction

A risky combination of drugs, when drug A interferes with the functioning of drug B. Blood levels of the drug may be lowered or raised, potentially interfering with effectiveness or making side-effects worse. Also known as a drug-drug interaction.

equivalence trial

A clinical trial which aims to demonstrate that a new treatment is no better or worse than an existing treatment. While the two drugs may have similar results in terms of virological response, the new drug may have fewer side-effects, be cheaper or have other advantages. 

longitudinal study

A study in which information is collected on people over several weeks, months or years. People may be followed forward in time (a prospective study), or information may be collected on past events (a retrospective study).

simian

Related to or affecting monkeys.

 

The results, published today in the March issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research show that approximately one week after SIV infection, there was a 64-fold increase of SIV in the blood of the alcohol-treated monkeys compared to the sucrose-treated monkeys. "This most likely means that either more cells are infected with virus at this early stage or that infected cells are producing more virus," said the study’s principal investigator Gregory J. Bagby. "If more cells are infected, it means that the alcohol increased infectivity of cells or increased the number of susceptible cells."

Alcohol consumption also enhanced lymphocyte turnover (as assessed by expression of the cell cycle protein marker Ki67) in SIV-infected monkeys during the early stage of infection, which may have contributed to the observed increase of virus in the blood.

Since alcohol abuse among people with HIV is significant, these findings could shed light on the connection between binge drinking and HIV infection.

The researchers will now study the longitudinal effects of alcohol on SIV disease progression.

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