Figure 1

HIV-1 transgene expression significantly increases the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNFα, in the liver but not in the lung, and this pro-inflammatory effect is reversed by dietary zinc supplementation. Panel A shows the relative gene expression of TNFα in the liver and the lung of wild type and transgenic rats. * p < 0.05 increased compared to liver expression in wild type rats. Panel B shows the effects of dietary zinc supplementation (100 mg/L) on the ratio of relative TNFα expression in the liver vs. the lung in HIV-1 transgenic rats. * p < 0.05 decreased compared to untreated HIV-1 transgenic rats (no zinc supplements). In all determinations shown in Panel A and B, RNA was extracted from the tissues and converted to cDNA. Relative gene expression of TNFα was determined by real-time PCR using 18S as control and calculated by the ΔΔCT method. Each value represents the mean ± SEM of 4-6 determinations.