Abstract
Objectives: To ascertain the effects of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) and L-2-oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (OTC) on HIV replication in resting T lymphocytes mixed with chronically infected U1 promonocytic cells; examine the phenotypes of NAC- and OTC-treated cells; and monitor HIV recovery from hu-PBMC SCID mice (SCID mice infected with HIV-1(BaL) reconstituted with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells) treated with oral OTC. Design and Methods: Unstimulated PBMC from uninfected donors preincubated for 2 days with pH-adjusted NAC or OTC were cultured at a concentration of 1 x 106 cells/ml with 100 U1 cells that were chronically infected with HIV-1(IIIB). HIV-1 production in the presence or absence of zidovudine was measured by p24 assay at 1-3 weeks, and results were compared with values from the same cell cultures maintained without NAC or OTC exposure. In some experiments U1 cells were separated from PBMC by a ·0.4 μm membrane. NAC-treated and -untreated cells were subjected to FACS analysis of multiple-cell-surface adhesion and activation molecules and the results were compared. Hu-PBMC SCID mice were fed OTC for 3 days prior to infection with HIV-1(BaL) and for the next 3 weeks. Mice were then sacrificed and peritoneal lavage cells were cultured for virus analysis. Results: Unstimulated, non-dividing PBMC supported high levels of HIV replication when in direct contact with U1 cells in the presence of NAC or OTC; CD2 and CD54 (I-CAM1) were down-regulated on NAC-treated PBMC; and OTC-treated mice produced significantly higher yields of HIV-1 from peritoneal cells than did untreated mice. Conclusions: At concentrations ≤ 5 mM, NAC and OTC potentiate HIV growth in unstimulated PBMC in vitro and in SCID mice. Caution in the use of these agents as antiviral monotherapies is advisable.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 33-41 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | AIDS |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1997 |
Keywords
- CD2
- CD54
- Contact-dependent activation
- N-acetyl-cysteine
- Procysteine
- Resting peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- SCID mice
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases