Kee-Jong Hong, H. Lee, Yeong Shik Kim
Aug 3, 2011
Citations
2
Influential Citations
12
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives
Abstract
Objectives Many natural compounds have been investigated as drug candidates to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with low cytotoxicity. We tested whether ingenol from Euphorbia ingens exerts anti-HIV effects in human T cell lines. Methods and Results Ingenol effectively maintained high cell viability (CD50, >1 mM) in H9 and MT4 T cells. The efficacy of ingenol to inhibit HIV-1 infection was dose dependent. ED50 for 100 and 200 TCID50 of HIV-1 was 5.06 and 16.87 μM, respectively. Gag p24 antigen production in ingenol-treated MT4 cells was reduced by 24.5% on day 6 post-infection. While p24 antigen was reduced in ingenol-treated cells, levels of cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-6 and chemokines such as RANTES and MCP-1 were increased. dUTP level related to late apoptotic events was increased on day 2 post-infection of HIV by ingenol treatment, whereas expression of annexin V was unchanged. Reduced levels of iNOS and ZAP-70 after HIV infection were recovered by ingenol treatment. Conclusion Ingenol helps T cells to survive longer against viremia after HIV-1 infection, without exerting cytotoxic effects. Ingenol can be considered a safe and efficacious candidate for immune-boosting therapy for AIDS patients.