To determine the correlation of zinc, copper, ceruloplasmin, and metallothionein in HIV-infected subjects: A Case Control Analysis

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to test the role of zinc, copper and their respective transporters in HIV-infected individuals and to compare and correlate the association of zinc, copper, ceruloplasmin and metallothionein between each variable respectively in healthy individuals and HIV-infected individuals. Methodology: The human ethics committee approved the study protocol. Since there is no computerized data, collecting it manually is cumbersome, so the sample size is 100 HIV-infected people. The control group has 100 healthy people. Serum zinc, copper, ceruloplasmin, and metallothionein were estimate. Results: We have shown the increased mean values of copper, ceruloplasmin, and metallothionein levels in the HIV-infected subjects than the non-HIV healthy controls. In addition, we observed significant statistical difference in the levels of serum copper, ceruloplasmin, and metallothionein when compared between the two groups of the study. On the other hand, we observed lower levels of serum zinc levels in HIV-infected subjects along with statistical difference in the mean levels of serum zinc level when compared between the two groups of the study. Conclusion: The results of this research indicate that an imbalance in the absorption of zinc and copper in HIV patients is the root cause of the changes that were observed in the study parameters. This imbalance is due to the lower levels of zinc transporters that are found in HIV patients in comparison to healthy controls.

Keywords: HIV; Ceruloplasmin; Metallothionein; Zinc; Copper; CD4