Abstract
Host metabolism has recently gained more attention for its roles in physiological functions and pathologic conditions. Of these, metabolic tryptophan disorders generate a pattern of abnormal metabolites that are implicated in various diseases. Here, we briefly highlight the recent advances regarding abnormal tryptophan metabolism in HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and discuss its potential impact on immune regulation, disease progression, and neurological disorders. Finally, we also discuss the potential for metabolic tryptophan interventions toward these infectious diseases.
Highlights
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is characterized by the massive loss of CD4 + T cells, functional impairment of immune cells, disruption of the lymphoid tissues, and chronic activation (Veazey et al, 1998; Brenchley et al, 2006; Sankaran et al, 2008; Xu et al, 2013; Estes et al, 2018; Wang and Xu, 2018)
Our studies showed that BH4 feeding significantly reduced levels of Kyn and indoleamine 2 (IDO) activity that were typically elevated during simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection, yet there were no effects on the plasma viral load
These findings suggest that HIV/SIV infection may induce elevation of both IDO activity and Kyn production, likely involved in immune regulation, yet further investigations are needed to understand the abnormalities in Trp metabolism induced by HIV/SIV infection
Summary
Edited by: Ian Marriott, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, United States. Reviewed by: Lu Huang, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, United States Roberta Olmo Pinheiro, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Brazil. Specialty section: This article was submitted to Microbial Immunology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. Host metabolism has recently gained more attention for its roles in physiological functions and pathologic conditions. Metabolic tryptophan disorders generate a pattern of abnormal metabolites that are implicated in various diseases. We briefly highlight the recent advances regarding abnormal tryptophan metabolism in HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and discuss its potential impact on immune regulation, disease progression, and neurological disorders. We discuss the potential for metabolic tryptophan interventions toward these infectious diseases
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