Odilon de Souza Júnior, 1. Pharmacy Post-Graduate Program, Florianópolis, Brazil
1 Arício Treitinger, 2. UFSC Clinical Analysis Department, Florianópolis, Brazil
2 Giovana Lotici Baggio, 3. Pharmacy Post-Graduate Program, Florianópolis, Brazil
3 Cleonice Michelon, 4. Pharmacy Post-Graduate Program, Florianópolis, Brazil
4 Júlio Cesar Verdi, 5. Municipal Health Department, Florianópolis, Brazil
5 Joel Cunha, 6. Pharmacy Post-Graduate Program, Florianópolis, Brazil
6 Silvia I. A. C. P. Ferreira, 7. Santa Luzia Medical Laboratory, Florianópolis, Brazil
7 Celso Spada8. UFSC Clinical Analysis Department, Florianópolis, Brazil
8 Corresponding author: Dr. Celso Spada, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Campus Universitário – Trindade, Cx.P. 476, 88.010-970 Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil Phone: +55-48-331-9712, Fax: +55-48-331-9542,
Citation Information. Clinical Chemical Laboratory Medicine. Volume 43, Issue 4, Pages 376–382, ISSN (Online) 1437-4331, ISSN (Print) 1434-6621, DOI: 10.1515/CCLM.2005.068, April 2005
Publication History: Received: //; accepted: //; published online: 05/07/2005
Abstract
The aim of our study was to evaluate the benefits of supplementation with 800 mg/day of α-tocopherol with regard to cellular viability in HIV-1 seropositive patients undergoing anti-retroviral therapy. A total of 29 patients participated in the study, of whom 14 were given the supplement and 15 a placebo. The analyses were carried out before treatment commenced and after 60, 120 and 180 days. The plasma levels ofHIV-1 RNA showed a significant decrease as a consequence of treatment time in the groups studied (p=0.0001), although the difference between the treatments over time was not verified (p=0.7343). The percentage of viable lymphocytes showed a significant increase as a consequence of treatment time in both groups studied (p=0.0002) and a significant difference between the treatments over time (p=0.0472). The percentage of lymphocytes in apoptosis showed a significant reduction over time (p=0.0003), as well as a significant difference between the treatments over time (p=0.0321). The significant increase in cellular viability indicates that supplementation with α-tocopherol offers an additional positive effect on cellular preservation in HIV-1 individuals undergoing anti-retroviral therapy; however, it represents an additional risk of anti-retroviral therapeutic failure, possibly due to drug-drug interaction involving up-regulation of metabolic clearance.
Keywords antiretroviral therapy, apoptosis, cellular viability, HIV, oxidative stress, α-tocpherol
