Iron metabolism and HIV infection: Reciprocal interactions with potentially harmful consequences?

Humans with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection present s ome evidence suggestive of iron accumulation. Ferritin concentrations incre ase with HIV disease progression, and iron accumulates in several tissues. Iron excess may exert negative effects in individuals with HIV. Indeed, iro n accumulation seems to be associated with shorter survival, and a number o f investigations point to an iron-mediated oxidative stress in subjects wit h HIV infection. The observations on humans infected with HIV are in part s upported by in-vitro findings. Indeed, in-vitio HIV infection is associated with changes in iron metabolism, and an iron-mediated oxidative stress is likely to contribute to viral cytopathogenicity. Furthermore, it is interes ting to point out that the interaction between iron and HIV may be reciproc al, since viruses with a life-cycle involving a DNA phase require chelatabl e iron for optimum replication. This combined evidence suggests that iron m etabolism is an important area for virus/host interaction. These observatio ns may be relevant to both laboratory monitoring and clinical treatment of individuals with HIV. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.