Mitochondrial toxicity is a condition in which the
mitochondria
A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...
of a body's cells become damaged or decline significantly in number; it occurs as a side effect of certain
antiretroviral drug
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple Antiviral drug, antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV/AIDS, HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV li ...
s used to treat human immunodeficiency virus, or
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
.
Causes
While the exact causes of mitochondrial toxicity are unknown, research has shown that a certain group of anti-viral drugs used to treat HIV, specifically nucleoside analog
reverse transcriptase inhibitor
Reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) are a class of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection or AIDS, and in some cases hepatitis B. RTIs inhibit activity of reverse transcriptase, a viral DNA polymerase that is required for replication ...
s (NRTIs), interfere with an enzyme needed in the production of mitochondria.
Symptoms
The disruption of cell function that accompanies the condition can cause both mild and severe problems in people with mitochondrial toxicity. The most commonly observed symptom is muscle weakness, or
myopathy
In medicine, myopathy is a disease of the muscle in which the muscle fibers do not function properly. ''Myopathy'' means muscle disease ( Greek : myo- ''muscle'' + patheia '' -pathy'' : ''suffering''). This meaning implies that the primary defec ...
. Others include
peripheral neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, refers to damage or disease affecting the nerves. Damage to nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland function, and/or organ function depending on which nerve fibers are affected. Neuropa ...
(numbness in the fingers and toes) and
pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormone
A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "se ...
(inflammation of the pancreas), with the most severe being
lactic acidosis
Lactic acidosis refers to the process leading to the production of lactate by anaerobic metabolism. It increases hydrogen ion concentration tending to the state of acidemia or low pH. The result can be detected with high levels of lactate and lo ...
, in which a build-up of lactic acid in the tissues of the body leads to loss of energy, organ failure, and eventually death.
See also
*
:Respiratory toxins
*
Uncoupler
An uncoupler or uncoupling agent is a molecule that disrupts oxidative phosphorylation in prokaryotes and mitochondria or photophosphorylation in chloroplasts and cyanobacteria by dissociating the reactions of ATP synthesis from the electron trans ...
References
{{reflist
External links
* Mitochondrial toxicity a
hiv.org
Toxicology