Copper and Zinc Levels Mark AIDS In Gay Men

JHMI--Copper and Zinc--2
For zinc, those who developed AIDS had levels of 85.2 mcg/dl, while
infected healthy men had levels of 90.7 mcg/dl and the uninfected men
had levels of 92.0 mcg/dl. Zinc usually is found in levels of 64 to 174
mg/dl.
The investigators accounted for minerals eaten in meals and blood
levels of CD4 cells, an established predictor of AIDS progression. CD4
cells, a type of white blood cell in the human immune system, is a
favorite target of HIV-1.
The men were among the 1,153 gay and bisexual men enrolled in
Hopkins' Study to Help the AIDS Research Effort (SHARE), which is the
Baltimore Component of the Multicenter AIDs Cohort Study (MACS). MACS
traces the natural progression of HIV-1 infection,including defining
symptoms and risk factors in 4,995 men. The study, which began in 1984,
is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases and is a collaborative effort of Hopkins, Northwestern
University, The University of California at Los Angeles and the
University of Pittsburgh.
Sorensen's coauthors include Neil Graham, M.D.; Nancy Odaka,
M.H.S.; Ron Brookmeyer, Ph.D.; and the late B. Frank Polk, M.D., M.Sc.,
of The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Walter Willett, M.D.,
of the Harvard School of Public Health.
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