Effect of Cocaine on Chemokine and CCR- 5 Gene Expression by Mononuclear Cells from Normal Donors and HIV-1 Infected Patients

Abstract

Although the CD4 molecule is the primary receptor for HIV-1, several studies have shown that in addition to CD4, other co-receptors such as CCR3, CCR5 may be required for efficient viral entry. Recent studies show that HIV suppressing such as, RANTES, and can bind to HIV-1 entry co-receptors, and, therefore, are important host factors that can influence susceptibility to M-tropic HIV-1 (Broder and Cocchi). Cocaine is one of the most widely abused drugs in the U.S. The last decade has witnessed a great, entangled epidemic of cocaine abuse and HIV-1 infections. Several studies have described the association of cocaine use with susceptibility to and progression of HIV-1 infections (Donahoe, Webber and Bagasra). We hypothesize that cocaine can mediate these pathologic effects through modulation of HIV suppressing chemokine and their receptors. The present study examines the effect of cocaine on synthesis by lymphocytes from normal and HIV infected subjects and and CCR 5 gene expression by normal PBMC.