title: Plasma Gelsolin Level in HIV-1-Infected Patients: An Indicator of Disease Severity.
abstract: Plasma gelsolin (pGSN) is a multifunctional protein involved mainly in severing and clearing of actin filaments. Its level correlates with inflammation and several diseases making it a potential biomarker of diagnostic and prognostic values. The pGSN level in groups of treated and untreated HIV-1-infected Indian patients is investigated in this study. This study aims at investigating the levels of pGSN in HIV-1-infected patients across different age, sex, severity of disease, and treatment status. Blood samples of 213 patients were analyzed for CD4 counts by flow cytometry and pGSN was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The level of pGSN is significantly increased in HIV-1 infected patients (227.2 ± 54.3 μg/ml) compared to healthy volunteers (167.9 ± 61.8 μg/ml). The level correlates with CD4 cell counts as patients with lower CD4 counts showed higher pGSN levels and vice versa. Gender does not affect pGSN level; however, antiretroviral (ARV) treatment reduces pGSN toward normal. Within low CD4 cell count group, the untreated patients have 52% higher pGSN than healthy volunteers, whereas with treatment, the difference reduces to 24%. Similarly, high CD4 cell count (>350 cells/mm3) group of patients showed 44% increase in pGSN in untreated patients compared to 21% increase in treated patients. There is an upregulation of pGSN in HIV-1 infection and it is inversely correlated with CD4 cell counts. Treatment with ARV drugs decreases pGSN levels toward normal. The monitoring of pGSN level in HIV-1-infected patients could be an important indicator of severity of disease and recovery during treatment.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research , Hajipur, India .
authors.forename: Kislay Kumar
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.affiliation: 2 Protein Science and Engineering Division, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology , Chandigarh, India .
authors.forename: Nagesh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peddada
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research , Hajipur, India .
authors.forename: Pravin Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research , Hajipur, India .
authors.forename: Anshul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: 3 Clinical Medicine Division, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Science , Patna, India .
authors.forename: Krishna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.affiliation: 3 Clinical Medicine Division, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Science , Patna, India .
authors.forename: Vidya Nand Ravi
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: 2 Protein Science and Engineering Division, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology , Chandigarh, India .
authors.lastname: Ashish
authors.affiliation: 4 Molecular Biology Division, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Science , Patna, India .
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D018260:Gelsolin / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018260:Gelsolin
keywords: HIV/SIV molecular biology; antiretroviral therapy; molecular biology