Data for this review were identified by searches of Medline, the science citation index, and references from relevant articles. Search terms were “HIV”, “AIDS”, “tryptophan”, “immune function”, “T-cell function”, “metabolism”, “nutrition”, and “pregnancy”. References were not limited by language or year of publication.
ReviewTryptophan depletion and HIV Tryptophan depletion and HIV infection: a metabolic link to pathogenesis
Section snippets
Biological stimuli underlying inducible tryptophan oxidation
Cytokines Cytokines stimulate IDO expression and activity. Although interferons α and β, tumour necrosis factor α, and plateletactivating factor can induce tryptophan oxidation, interferon γ seems to be the most important cytokine linked to this catabolism.17, 27, 28, 29 IDO induction can promote the removal of tryptophan in a localised microenvironment or systemically. Tryptophan oxidation driven by interferon γ can take place even when the circulating concentration of tryptophan is already
T-cell hyporesponsiveness
T-cell response to foreign antigens is depressed in the peripheral blood of HIV-1-infected individuals and pregnant women.44, 50 Increased IDO activity in HIV-1 infection results in decreased tryptophan and increased niacin, in a pattern reminiscent of human pregnancy (table 2).25, 26, 42, 53, 54 This pattern of tryptophan-to-niacin metabolism in pregnancy is critical to conferring immune tolerance of foreign paternal antigens.40 Cytokine-induced tryptophan oxidation has also been linked to the
Conclusion
The net advantage of tryptophan oxidation in HIV-1 infection is unclear. Host immune-mediated activation of this metabolism might have as its goal the removal of tryptophan from the available aminoacid pool, the production of the pathway's metabolic end products, the production of the pathway's metabolic intermediates, or some combination of these. This general phenomenon is also seen with other infections, malignant disease, and autoimmunity. The metabolic activation could be harmful to the
Search strategy and selection criteria
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2022, The Lancet Global HealthIdentification of key metabolic pathways reprogrammed by BmNPV in silkworm Bombyx mori
2022, Journal of Invertebrate PathologyCitation Excerpt :Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that functions in diverse metabolic, neurological and immunological roles. Tryptophan deprivation has been observed after viral infection, malignant disease and autoimmuity (Murray, 2003; Mehraj and Routy, 2015), consistent with our observation that tryptophan levels decreased markedly 120 h post-BmNPV infection in the susceptible silkworm strain but remained stable in the resistant silkworm strain (Fig. 1). Tryptophan trimers and tetramers have been reported to inhibit dengue and Zika virus by preventing viral envelope glycoprotein from adhering to the host cell membrane (Fikatas et al., 2020).
Diagnostic accuracy of plasma kynurenine/tryptophan ratio, measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, for pulmonary tuberculosis
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