Article: Study Sheds Light on AIDS-Lung Infection Link;HIV Patients Found to Have Low Levels of Substance Critical to Immune System

Researchers have discovered a possible explanation for the long-standing mystery of why the immune system of people with AIDS breaks down so badly and why they have so many lung infections when, at least in the early stages of the disease, relatively few cells are infected with the virus.

A study of 14 men infected with the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who had not yet become ill found that they had abnormally low levels of glutathione in their blood and lung fluid.

Glutathione is a natural substance that protects all cells from damage and that is critical for normal functioning of the immune system.

The researchers suspect the low levels of glutathione weaken the ...

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