AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2000 Feb 10;16(3):203-9.
Massive loss of sulfur in HIV infection.
Breitkreutz R, Holm S, Pittack N, Beichert M, Babylon A, Yodoi J,
Droge W.
Division of Immunochemistry, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum,
Heidelberg, Germany.
Skeletal muscle tissue from SIV-infected macaques was previously
found to contain abnormally high sulfate and low glutathione levels
indicative of an excessive cysteine catabolism. We now confirm the
peripheral tissue as a site of massive cysteine catabolism in HIV
infection and have determined the urinary loss of sulfur per time
unit. The comparison of the sulfate concentrations of the arterial and
venous blood from the lower extremities of 16 symptomatic HIV+
patients and 18 HIV- control subjects (study 1) revealed (1) that the
peripheral tissue of HIV+ patients with or without highly active
antiretroviral therapy (HAART) releases large amounts of sulfate and
(2) that plasma sulfate, thioredoxin, and interleukin-6 levels are
elevated in these patients. A complementary investigation of 64
asymptomatic HIV+ patients and 65 HIV- subjects (study 2) revealed
increased plasma sulfate levels in the asymptomatic patients. The
analysis of the daily urinary excretion of sulfate and urea of another
group of 19 HIV+ patients and 22 healthy HIV- subjects (study 3)
confirmed (1) that HIV+ patients experience a massive loss of sulfur
and (2) that this loss is not ameliorated by HAART. The sulfur loss of
asymptomatic patients was equivalent to a mean loss of about 10 g of
cysteine per day. If extrapolated, this would correspond to an
alarming negative balance of approximately 2 kg of cysteine per year
under the assumption that the normal sulfate excretion equivalent to
approximately 3 g of cysteine per day is balanced by a standard
Western diet. The abnormally high sulfate/urea ratio suggests that
this process drains largely the glutathione pool.
PMID: 10710208 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
