Increased level of arginase activity correlates with disease severity in HIV-seropositive patients

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) results in a chronic infection that progressively impairs the immune system. Although depletion of CD+ T cells is frequently used to explain immunosuppression, chronicity of infection and progressive loss of CD+ T cells are not sufficient to fully account for immune dysregulation. Arginase-induced L-arginine deprivation is emerging as a key mechanism for the down-regulation of immune responses. Here, we hypothesized that the level of arginase activity increases with disease severity in HIV-seropositive patients. We determined the levels of arginase activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HIV-seropositive patients and uninfected control participants. Our results show that peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HIV-seropositive patients with low CD+ T cell counts expressed statistically significantly higher levels of arginase activity, compared with patients with high CD+ T cell counts or uninfected control participants. Furthermore, we found a statistically significant correlation between high level of arginase activity and high viral load in HIV-seropositive patients. © 2010 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.