Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV Infection

We examined the causes for decreased glutathione (GSH) in individuals with HIV infection. We observed lower levels of intracellular GSH in macrophages from individuals with HIV compared to healthy subjects. Further, the GSH composition found in macrophages from HIV+ subjects heavily favors oxidized...

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Main Authors: Devin Morris, Carlos Guerra, Clare Donohue, Hyoung Oh, Melissa Khurasany, Vishwanath Venketaraman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Clinical and Developmental Immunology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/734125
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author Devin Morris
Carlos Guerra
Clare Donohue
Hyoung Oh
Melissa Khurasany
Vishwanath Venketaraman
author_facet Devin Morris
Carlos Guerra
Clare Donohue
Hyoung Oh
Melissa Khurasany
Vishwanath Venketaraman
author_sort Devin Morris
collection DOAJ
description We examined the causes for decreased glutathione (GSH) in individuals with HIV infection. We observed lower levels of intracellular GSH in macrophages from individuals with HIV compared to healthy subjects. Further, the GSH composition found in macrophages from HIV+ subjects heavily favors oxidized glutathione (GSSG) which lacks antioxidant activity, over free GSH which is responsible for GSH’s antioxidant activity. This decrease correlated with an increase in the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) in macrophages from HIV+ individuals. In addition, we observed increased levels of free radicals, interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-17 (IL-17) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in plasma samples derived from HIV+ individuals compared to healthy subjects. We observed decreased expression of the genes coding for enzymes responsible for de novo synthesis of GSH in macrophages derived from HIV+ subjects using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Our results indicate that overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines in HIV+ individuals lead to increased production of free radicals. This combined with the decreased expression of GSH synthesis enzymes leads to a depletion of free GSH and may lead in part to the loss of immune function observed in HIV patients.
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series Clinical and Developmental Immunology
spelling doaj-art-6c22b3910b4b4885b458351b9cd095ad2025-02-03T06:00:17ZengWileyClinical and Developmental Immunology1740-25221740-25302012-01-01201210.1155/2012/734125734125Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV InfectionDevin Morris0Carlos Guerra1Clare Donohue2Hyoung Oh3Melissa Khurasany4Vishwanath Venketaraman5Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USAScience Department, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USAPitzer College, 1050 N Mills Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711, USAGraduate College of Biomedical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USACollege of Dental Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USAGraduate College of Biomedical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA 91766, USAWe examined the causes for decreased glutathione (GSH) in individuals with HIV infection. We observed lower levels of intracellular GSH in macrophages from individuals with HIV compared to healthy subjects. Further, the GSH composition found in macrophages from HIV+ subjects heavily favors oxidized glutathione (GSSG) which lacks antioxidant activity, over free GSH which is responsible for GSH’s antioxidant activity. This decrease correlated with an increase in the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) in macrophages from HIV+ individuals. In addition, we observed increased levels of free radicals, interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-17 (IL-17) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in plasma samples derived from HIV+ individuals compared to healthy subjects. We observed decreased expression of the genes coding for enzymes responsible for de novo synthesis of GSH in macrophages derived from HIV+ subjects using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Our results indicate that overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines in HIV+ individuals lead to increased production of free radicals. This combined with the decreased expression of GSH synthesis enzymes leads to a depletion of free GSH and may lead in part to the loss of immune function observed in HIV patients.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/734125
spellingShingle Devin Morris
Carlos Guerra
Clare Donohue
Hyoung Oh
Melissa Khurasany
Vishwanath Venketaraman
Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV Infection
Clinical and Developmental Immunology
title Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV Infection
title_full Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV Infection
title_fullStr Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV Infection
title_full_unstemmed Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV Infection
title_short Unveiling the Mechanisms for Decreased Glutathione in Individuals with HIV Infection
title_sort unveiling the mechanisms for decreased glutathione in individuals with hiv infection
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/734125
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