Decreased antioxidant defence in individuals infected by the human immunodeficiency virus

Background The oxidative stress associated with HIV infection may be import ant for the progression of the disease because reactive oxygen species acti vate the nuclear transcription factor NF-kappa B, which is obligatory for H IV replication. Patients and methods The activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide d ismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx, EC 1.11.1.9) o f blood plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, as well as the plasm a levels of ascorbate, alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene, were measured in 75 subjects with HIV infection and in 26 controls. The HIV-infected patien ts were classified according to the Walter Reed Army Institute criteria. Results The extracellular SOD (EC-SOD) of blood plasma activity was decreas ed in HIV-infected patients compared to controls, while the SOD activity of mononuclear cells decreased with the HIV-associated disease progression. G Px activities and alpha-tocopherol concentration of HIV-infected patients n either differed as compared to controls nor in relation to disease progress ion. Lower concentrations of ascorbate and beta-carotene were found in HIV- infected patients than in controls. A positive correlation between CD4 lymp hocyte counts and the SOD activities of plasma and mononuclear cells was fo und. Conclusion These results suggest that abnormalities of antioxidant defence, mainly of SOD activity, are related to the progression of the HIV infectio n.