Oxidative stress in HIV Infection and Alcohol Use: Role of Redox Signals in Modulation of Lipid Rafts and ABC-Transporters

Aims: HIV infection induces oxidative stress and alcohol use accelerates disease progression subsequently causing immune dysfunction. However, HIV and alcohol impact on lipid rafts-mediated immune dysfunction remains unknown. In this study, we investigate the modulation by which oxidative stress induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) affecting redox expression, lipid rafts caveiloin-1, ATP-binding cassette (ABC)-transporters, and transcriptional SREBP gene and protein modification and how these mechanisms are associated with arachidonic acid (AA) metabolites in HIV positive alcohol users, and how they escalate immune dysfunction. Results: In both alcohol using HIV positive human subjects and in vitro studies of alcohol with HIV-1 gp120 protein in PBMC, increased ROS production significantly affected redox expression in GSS, SOD and GPx, and subsequently impacted lipid rafts Cav-1, ABC transporters ABCA1, ABCG1, ABCB1 and ABCG4 and SREBP transcription. The increased level of rate limiting enzyme HMGCR subse...