Tomato concentrate could help reduce chronic intestinal inflammation associated with HIV

New UCLA-led research in mice suggests that adding a certain type of tomato concentrate to the diet can reduce the intestinal inflammation that is associated with HIV. Left untreated, intestinal inflammation can accelerate arterial disease, which in turn can lead to heart attack and stroke.The findings provide clues to how the altered intestinal tract affects disease-causing inflammation in people with chronic HIV infection, suggesting that targeting the inflamed intestinal wall may be a novel way to prevent the systemic inflammation that persists even when antiviral therapy is effective in controlling a person ’s HIV.The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS Pathogens.“Inflammation is an important process that protects the body from invading infections and toxins,” said Dr. Theodoros Kelesidis, the paper’s senior author and an associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at theDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.“But in individuals who are successfully treated for HIV to the point that their viral load is no longer detectable, the continuing low-grade inflammation in the cells of the intestine contributes to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.”People with HIV have been found to have a condition called “leaky gut,” in which products in the gut bacteria, such as lipopolysaccharides, move to other parts of the body through the bloodstream. Those products  promote systemic inflammation and can accelerate coro...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news