Immunosuppression can be useful for a wild animal in conditions of physical danger. If you’re fleeing for your life, you want to divert resources away from healing and body maintenance so you can devote more to being alert and running fast.
-
-
Moreover, quinolinic acid makes brain tumors more resistant to oxidative stress (like radiation, chemo, or the body’s own immune defenses. ://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/73/11/3225.full.pdf.)
Show this thread -
Viruses can induce kynurenine production; here, influenza increases TDO and IDO expression & kynurenine production in rat brains: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=TDO+virus&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DM_fb6QYy0QYJ …
Show this thread -
TDO, IDO, kynurenine, and quinolinic acid are found elevated in various viral infections: HIV, hepatitis B and C, herpesviruses, etc.https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.4137/IJTR.S26862 …
Show this thread -
Why? Tryptophan depletion is itself an immune defense against some bacteria and viruses. In response to viral infection, the body produces IFN-gamma, which activates IDO and TDO, which make kynurenine. Unfortunately, kynurenine has all the nasty effects mentioned upthread.
Show this thread -
So if you have a *chronic* viral infection, you’re going to keep pumping out kynurenines as a side effect of trying to kill the virus, which cause immunosuppression, which makes you more susceptible to viral infection...it’s a vicious cycle!
Show this thread -
What kinds of drugs inhibit IDO and TDO? Well, azole antifungals (like ketoconazole) and the MAOI antifungal phenelzine (also known as Nardil, the Flame of the West) https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=20&q=ido1+inhibitor&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DYbQyk8FoSIMJ …
Show this thread -
The antiviral acyclovir is also an IDO1 inhibitor:https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1742-2094-7-44 …
Show this thread -
Acyclovir inhibits TDO too:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11011-008-9095-4 …
Show this thread -
And so does the antibiotic minocycline:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043466617303848 …
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.