Serum Levels of Fas/Apo-1 and Bcl-2 in Children with HIV-1 Infection

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Abstract
Apoptosis of CD4-positive T cells is considered to be involved in depletion of CD4-positive T cells in adult patients with HIV-1 infection. In this report we evaluated serum levels of soluble Fas/Apo-1 and circulating bcl-2 protein (an antiapoptotic molecule) in HIV-1-infected children, and 30 HIV-1 seronegative children. Significantly higher levels of Fas/Apo-1 were observed in 13 HIV-1-infected children than in non-infected control children (p0.001), whereas serum levels of bcl-2 were significantly decreased (p=0.002). Seronegative children born to HIV-infected mothers displayed significantly decreased (p0.05) serum levels of bcl-2. By contrast, children born to HIV-seronegative mothers and suffering from acute lower respiratory infection had normal levels of bcl-2 and Fas/Apo-1. These data suggest that upregulation of Fas/Apo-1 along with downregulation of bcl-2 protein may contribute to apoptosis in children with HIV-1 infection.