AZT blocks down-regulation of IL-2 and IFN-γ gene expression in HIV acutely infected cells

Abstract

HIV infection causes dysregulation of cytokine gene expression in CD4⁺ T cells of the infected host. Azidothymidine (AZT) inhibits HIV repli-cation by blocking reverse transcription. Using a one-stop cell-to-cell HIV infection model, we have investigated the expression of several key cytokines in HIV infected T cells in the absence or presence of AZT treatment. Acute HIV infection of T cells resulted in dramatic down regulation of the expression of IL-2 and INFg mRNA. While β-actin mRNA levels remained constant in both AZT-free and AZT treated cultures after HIV infection, it was found that AZT blocked the down regulation of IL-2 mRNA and INFg mRNA in CD4⁺ T cells acutely infected with HIV.