AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, August 30, 2004
Staff Medical Writers

According to published research from the United States, "Plasma viral load (VL) values and CD4+ cell count are employed clinically for initiation of therapy in the treatment of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as previous clinical studies have shown a marked prevalence of acquired immunodeficiency sydrome (AIDS) development in seropositive individuals with VL values over 30000 copies/mL."

"Many studies have shown that reduced glutathione (GSH) and cysteine (Cys) deficiency play an important role in the infection. We have developed capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE)-based assays and have used them to investigate the relationship between plasma and intracellular thiol levels and HIV-1 viremia in plasma," reported E. Sbrana and coworkers.

"Blood samples from healthy volunteers and seropositive patients undergoing different antiretroviral regimes were analyzed in the study. The VL assay was based on CZE-UV detection of viral RNA at 260 nm. Determination of endogenous reduced Cys and GSH was achieved by CZE-UV detection of their mercurial complexes at 200 rim," said investigators.

"We found that a decrease in GSH and Cys levels may be associated with disease progress. In fact," concluded Sbrana, "reduced GSH and Cys levels appear progressively reduced with increasing VL."

Sbrana and colleagues published their findings in Electrophoresis (Quantification of reduced glutathione and cysteine in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. Electrophoresis. 2004 Jun;25(10-11):1522-9.

Additional information can be obtained by contacting E. Sbrana, University of Texas, Medical Branch, Department of Pathology, 3-150 Keiller Bldg., 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555 USA.

The publisher of the journal Electrophoresis can be contacted at: Wiley-V C H Verlag GmbH, PO Box 10 11 61, D-69451 Weinheim, Germany.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of AIDS/HIV, Genomics and Genetics, and Immunology.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference

Sbrana E, Paladini A, Bramanti E, et al., "Quantitation of reduced glutathione and cysteine in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients", Electrophoresis. 2004 Jun;25(10-11):1522-9.

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