Viabilidade celular de linfócitos como auxiliar na instituição da terapia antirretroviral na infecção pelo HIV-1 / Cellular viability of lymphocytes as an auxiliary for the institution of antiretroviral therapy in the human immunodeficiency virus infection

A infecção pelo vírus da imunodeficência humana (HIV) está associada à diminuição progressiva do número de linfócitos T CD4. Além do comprometimento na produção das células T CD4, os altos níveis de apoptose verificados nesses pacientes também são responsáveis pela depleção dessas células. O objetivo deste trabalho foi mostrar a importância da avaliação da viabilidade celular de linfócitos como auxiliar no monitoramento da infecção pelo HIV. Participaram deste estudo 18 voluntários HIV soropositivos com contagem de linfócitos CD4 ≤ 200 células/mm3 e 14 voluntários HIV soropositivos com contagem de linfócitos CD4 ≥ 200 células/mm3. O ensaio de viabilidade celular foi realizado em citômetro de fluxo, modelo FACScalliburTM. A avaliação da viabilidade celular demonstrou níveis elevados de apoptose nos pacientes HIV soropositivos com contagem de linfócitos CD4 ≤ 200 células/mm3 (64,21± 15,26), assim como nos pacientes HIV soropositivos com contagem de linfócitos CD4 ≥ 200 células/mm3 (62,63...

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C prevalence among blood donors and HIV-1 infected patients in Florianópolis--Brazil.

Information is scarce on the prevalence of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) among voluntary blood donors and patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Florianópolis, Brazil. A total of 2,678 serum samples from 2,583 blood donors and 95 HIV-infected patients, collected between April, 1994, and March, 1995, were examined for markers of HBV and HCV. All the samples were analyzed to detect HBV and HCV markers (HBsAg, anti-HBc, and anti-HCV). Hepatitis B and C prevalence among the studied blood donors reached 9.3% and 1.0%, respectively; 0.7% being seropositive for HBsAg and 9.2% for anti-HBc. It was also verified that 0.1% of blood donors were seropositive for HBsAg alone, 8.6% seropositive for the anti-HBc alone, and 0.6% presented a positive reaction for both of the HBV markers studied. Among HIV-infected patients, prevalence of 69.5% and 54.7% for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, respectively, were observed. Of these patients, 18.9% were seropositive for HBsAg, and 66.3% for the anti-HBc. The prevalence of a reaction for HBsAg alone, and for anti-HBc alone was 3.1% and 50.5%, respectively, for HIV-infected patients, whereas 15.8% were seropositive for both of the studied markers. HBV and HCV coinfection was 0.1% in blood donors, and 40% of those patients tested seropositive for HIV. Results show prevalence of HBV and HCV infection to be significantly greater among HIV-infected patients than among blood donors. These observations confirm the high frequency of HIV-infected patients exposure to these other viruses.

Decreased antioxidant defence in individuals infected by the human immunodeficiency virus.

BACKGROUND: The oxidative stress associated with HIV infection may be important for the progression of the disease because reactive oxygen species activate the nuclear transcription factor NF-kappaB, which is obligatory for HIV replication. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx, EC 1.11.1.9) of blood plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, as well as the plasma levels of ascorbate, alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene, were measured in 75 subjects with HIV infection and in 26 controls. The HIV-infected patients were classified according to the Walter Reed Army Institute criteria. RESULTS: The extracellular SOD (EC-SOD) of blood plasma activity was decreased in HIV-infected patients compared to controls, while the SOD activity of mononuclear cells decreased with the HIV-associated disease progression. GPx activities and alpha-tocopherol concentration of HIV-infected patients neither differed as compared to controls nor in relation to disease progression. Lower concentrations of ascorbate and beta-carotene were found in HIV-infected patients than in controls. A positive correlation between CD4 lymphocyte counts and the SOD activities of plasma and mononuclear cells was found. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that abnormalities of antioxidant defence, mainly of SOD activity, are related to the progression of the HIV infection.