Quantitation of reduced glutathione and cysteine in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients

Elena Sbrana, Adriano Paladini, Emilia Bramanti, Maria C. Spinetti, Giorgio Raspi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

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 30 000 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. 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 nm. We found that a decrease in GSH and Cys levels may be associated with disease progress. In fact, reduced GSH and Cys levels appear progressively reduced with increasing VL.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1522-1529
Number of pages8
JournalELECTROPHORESIS
Volume25
Issue number10-11
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Capillary electrophoresis
  • Cysteine
  • Glutathione
  • Human immunodeficiency virus
  • Viral load

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Clinical Biochemistry

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