Metabolic disorder as early consequence of simian immunodeficiency virus infection in rhesus macaques

To establish whether the high plasma glutamate and low acid-soluble thiol (mainly cysteine) concentrations previously found in patients with HIV-1 infection are a consequence of the infection or a risk factor for its development, a closely related animal model, rhesus and fascicularis macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVmac251), was studied. The 23 infected macaques had significantly lower mean plasma thiol and higher glutamate concentrations than 18 uninfected controls (p less than 0.001). The changes were apparent by 1 week after infection. Thus, abnormal plasma glutamate and thiol concentrations are, at least in this model, a direct and early consequence of the retroviral infection.