Glycoproteomic analysis identifies human glycoproteins secreted from HIV latently infected T cells and reveals their presence in HIV+ plasma.

Glycoproteins secreted into plasma from T cells infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) latent infection may provide insight into understanding the host response to HIV infection in vivo. Glycoproteomics, which evaluates the level of the glycoproteome, remains a novel approach to study this host response to HIV. In order to identify human glycoproteins secreted from T cells with latent HIV infection, the medium from cultured HIV replication-competent T cells was compared with the medium from cultured parental A3.01 cells via solid phase extraction of glycopeptides (SPEG) and high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Using these methods, 59 human glycoproteins were identified as having significantly different abundance levels between the media from these two cell lines. The relevance of these 59 proteins to HIV infection in vivo was assessed in plasma from HIV+ and HIV- subjects. Comparison between T cell and plasma revealed that six glycoproteins (galectin-3-binding protein, L-selectin, neogenin, adenosine deaminase CECR1, ICOS ligand and phospholipid transfer protein) were significantly elevated in the HIV+ T cells and plasma studies. These findings suggest that the response of T cells harboring latent HIV infection contributed, in part, to the glycoprotein changes in HIV+ plasma. These proteins, once validated, could provide insight into host-HIV interaction.

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) administration does not affect performance of the Roche COBAS Ampliprep/Taqman HIV-1 RNA assay.

BACKGROUND: Previous data indicate that purified components of ginseng can inhibit HIV reverse transcriptase in vitro, suggesting that ginseng components in plasma may interfere with HIV-1 RNA detection assays. METHODS: Pre- and post-dose plasma from three volunteers dosed with 3000 mg American ginseng was spiked with HIV and analyzed by the Roche COBAS Ampliprep/Taqman v2.0 HIV-1 RNA assay. RESULTS: Presence of American ginseng had no significant effect on measured HIV-1 RNA concentration. Variation within pre- and post-dose plasma pair was insignificant and within assay performance limits. CONCLUSION: Plasma from subjects dosed with 3000 mg American ginseng does not interfere with the Roche COBAS Ampliprep/Taqman v2.0 HIV-1 RNA assay. This implies that in vitro inhibition of HIV reverse transcriptase by American ginseng components is unlikely to be clinically relevant.