Mitochondria and ageing with HIV

Curr Opin HIV AIDS. 2020 Mar;15(2):101-109. doi: 10.1097/COH.0000000000000607.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Some older people living with HIV (PLWH) exhibit features of unsuccessful ageing, such as frailty. Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the best characterized ageing mechanisms. There has been recent interest in whether some people ageing with HIV may have an excess of mitochondrial dysfunction. This review aims to address this question through: analogy with ageing and chronic disease; discussion of the key unknowns; suggested ways that measures of mitochondrial dysfunction might be incorporated into HIV research studies.

Recent findings: Recent data suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction in PLWH may not be wholly a legacy effect of historical nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor exposures. Research in the non-HIV setting has altered our understanding of the important mediators of mitochondrial dysfunction in ageing.

Summary: Mitochondrial dysfunction is a very plausible driver of adverse ageing phenotypes in some older PLWH. As such it may be a target for therapeutic interventions. Currently, however, there remain considerable uncertainties around the extent of this phenomenon, and its relative importance. Current studies are likely to clarify these questions over the next few years.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging* / pathology
  • Anti-HIV Agents / pharmacology
  • Biomarkers
  • Chronic Disease
  • DNA, Mitochondrial* / drug effects
  • DNA, Mitochondrial* / metabolism
  • Flow Cytometry / methods
  • Frailty / pathology
  • HIV Infections* / drug therapy
  • HIV Infections* / pathology
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / methods
  • Mitochondria* / drug effects
  • Mitochondria* / pathology
  • NAD / drug effects
  • NAD / metabolism
  • Oxidative Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / methods

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • Biomarkers
  • DNA, Mitochondrial
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors
  • NAD