Expression of arginase I and inducible nitric oxide synthase in the peripheral blood and lymph nodes of HIV-positive patients

ZHANG, NAICHUN; DENG, JIANNING; WU, FENGYAO; LU, XIANGCHAN; HUANG, LEI; ZHAO, MIN

The reduced synthesis of NO may directly impair innate (6, 45, 46) . All these factors contribute to the significant increase in HIV replication and compromise anti-infection ability in the AIDS phase, resulting in the development of opportunistic infections. The reduction in NO due to the competition between Arg and iNOS is also important in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases, including atherosclerosis and hypertension, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, diabetes, allergic asthma and inflammatory diseases (47) (48) (49) (50) . Thus, as an important metabolic enzyme, which affects NO synthesis, mechanisms to inhibit the progression of disease by inhibiting Arg activity and functional interference remains an area of increased interest. Certain synthetic and natural compounds that inhibit Arg have been investigated as disease therapies, with certain small molecule inhibitors of Arg showing potential in the treatment of diabetes, allergic inflammation and Schistosoma mansoni parasitic infection (47, 51, 52) . At the same time, evidence in rats shows that Arg I may serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (53) . The results of the present study also showed that HIV load and peripheral CD4 + T cells were independently associated with the expression levels of Arg I and iNOS. Thus, although HAART may exert therapeutic effects by reducing the expression of Arg I and increasing the expression of iNOS, Arg inhibitors may be used as an adjuvant therapy to treat HIV infection, particularly in those with AIDS, and to improve immune function, prevent opportunistic infections and inhibit viral replication. In addition, this correlation suggests that the expression levels of Arg I and iNOS in peripheral T cells may be used diagnostically to predict the progression of HIV infections.