Inadequate clearance of translocated bacterial products in HIV-infected humanized mice.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial translocation from the gut and subsequent immune activation are hallmarks of HIV infection and are thought to determine disease progression. Intestinal barrier integrity is impaired early in acute retroviral infection, but levels of plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a marker of bacterial translocation, increase only later. We examined humanized mice infected with HIV to determine if disruption of the intestinal barrier alone is responsible for elevated levels of LPS and if bacterial translocation increases immune activation. Treating uninfected mice with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) induced bacterial translocation, but did not result in elevated plasma LPS levels. DSS-induced translocation provoked LPS elevation only when phagocytic cells were depleted with clodronate liposomes (c

SUBMITTER: Hofer U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2861703 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature