Plasma glutathione concentrations in children infected with human immunodeficiency virus
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Updated: Oct 30, 2026
Chronic, Acute, and Reactivated HIV Infection in Humanized Immunodeficient Mouse Models
Published on: December 3, 2019
J F Rodriguez1, J Cordero, C Chantry
1Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00936, USA. J_RODRIGUEZ@RCMAXP.UPR.CLU.EDU
Insights
Children with HIV have lower glutathione (GSH) levels, impacting disease progression. Lower GSH correlates with decreased CD4+ cell counts and higher viral loads in pediatric HIV.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Immunology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Glutathione (GSH) is a key intracellular antioxidant.
- HIV-infected individuals often exhibit subnormal plasma GSH concentrations.
- GSH deficiency may play a role in HIV pathogenesis, particularly in children where data is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare plasma GSH concentrations between HIV-infected children and healthy controls.
- To investigate correlations between plasma GSH levels and clinical, immunologic, and virologic markers in pediatric HIV.
Main Methods:
- Plasma total glutathione concentrations were measured.
- Study included 24 HIV-infected children and 24 healthy controls.
Main Results:
- HIV-infected children had significantly lower plasma GSH (2.96 µM) than controls (6.62 µM).
- GSH levels correlated positively with CD4+ cell counts (r=0.56) and negatively with HIV viral load (r=-0.49).
- Lower GSH was observed in HIV-infected children with growth failure.
Conclusions:
- HIV-infected children demonstrate reduced plasma GSH compared to healthy children.
- Low GSH concentrations are linked to poorer immunologic status (lower CD4+) and higher viral load in pediatric HIV.
- These findings suggest GSH plays a role in HIV disease progression.
Background:
Glutathione (GSH) is the principal intracellular defense against oxidants, and HIV-infected individuals tend to have subnormal concentrations in plasma. This GSH deficiency may contribute to the pathogenesis of disease progression. In the pediatric population correlations between GSH concentrations with clinical, immunologic and virologic disease profiles are scarce.
Objectives:
The main objectives of this study were (1) to compare plasma GSH concentrations of HIV-infected children and healthy controls and (2) to correlate GSH values with clinical, immunologic and virologic disease indices.
Methods:
Twenty-four HIV-infected and 24 healthy control children entered the study. Plasma concentrations of total glutathione and related thiols were determined.
Results:
The difference in mean plasma GSH concentrations between HIV-infected (2.96 +/- 0.31 microM) and control (6.62 +/- 0.58 microM) groups was highly significant (P < 0.0001). Linear regression analyses in HIV-infected patients revealed significant correlations between GSH and both absolute CD4+ cell counts (r = 0.56, P = 0.004) and viral load measured as log HIV-RNA PCR (r = -0.49, P = 0.018). GSH concentrations did not significantly correlate with CDC clinical stage but were lower in HIV-infected patients with growth failure (1.60 +/- 0.54 microM) vs. non-growth failure (3.23 +/- 0.33 microM); P = 0.05.
Conclusions:
This study confirmed that HIV-infected children are deficient in plasma GSH concentrations compared with healthy controls. We documented that low GSH concentrations in HIV-infected children are directly correlated with CD4+ cell counts and inversely correlated with viral loads. These findings support a possible role of GSH in the pathogenesis of HIV disease progression.
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