Acquisition of human immunodeficiency virus infection in a patient with multiple sclerosis: could these conditions positively influence each other’s course?

Abstract

Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have a decreased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) and MS patients very rarely contract HIV infection. We report on a 35-year-old woman with relapsing-remitting MS, who acquired HIV infection 8 years after MS onset. During 7 years of follow-up without combined antiretroviral therapy (cART), CD4+ counts decreased and HIV viremia increased progressively, but slightly. These trends reverted after starting cART, with optimal viro-immunological control. While the patient had many MS relapses before acquiring HIV infection, she had then only one relapse, shortly after HIV infection, despite irregular or no MS therapy. This case contributes to the discussion about MS and HIV potential interactions and describes for the first time the effects of the MS-targeting drug natalizumab in an HIV-positive patient.

Modulation of human endogenous retroviruses and cytokines expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from autistic children and their parents

“…Indeed, EFV treatment reduced HERV-H and HERV-K expression in PBMCs from ASD children and their mothers and HERV-W and pHERV-W only in ASD mothers, while, conversely, increased HERV-W activity in ASD children. The reduction of pHERV-W observed in ASD mothers is in line with the results reported by Morandi et al in lymphoblastoid cell lines [73], and with the hypothesis that antiretroviral therapy for HIV could potentially limit the progression of multiple sclerosis [76][77][78]. Notable, EFV treatment in PBMCs from ASD children also reduced the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1→, IL-6 and TNF-α, maintaining at high levels the expression of regulatory cytokine IL-10, while in PBMCs from ASD mothers reduced the expression of all the cytokines analysed, although maintaining high levels of IL-10 and IFN©.…”