The moment is likewise opportune to remind us that HIV does not necessarily mean the death sentence. I have a patient in my clinic, who comes to me for the support of his general health, not to cure his deepest problem, who has survived HIV for several decades. And then there is Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson the former basketball star of the Los Angeles Lakers. His HIV infection was tabloid news, especially in 1991 after he was informed that he had contracted the disease and immediately went public with the story. But 'Magic’ Johnson is still very much kicking and alive, and in addition a tireless advocate informing about HIV and AIDS (see:www.thewellproject.org). After an initial retirement he even went on to win a most valuable player award and an Olympic gold medal with his team, with the disease.
“Several studies how that individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have a compromised antioxidant defense system. Blood antioxidants are decreased and peroxidation products of lipids and proteins are increased in these patients. This blood profile may contribute to the progression of AIDS because antioxidants such as glutathione prevent viral replication while reactive oxidants tend to stimulate the virus. Consequently, it was suggested that HIV-infected patients may benefit from antioxidant supplementation therapy involving lipoic acid.”
“To test this hypothesis, a small pilot study was designed to determine the short term effect of lipoic acid supplementation (150 milligramms three times daily) in HIV-positive patients (published in the German journal Arzneimittel Forschung by J. Fuchs in 1993 as ‘Studies on Lipoate Effects on Blood Redox State in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Patients’). Lipoc acid supplementation increased plasma ascorbate in nine of ten patients, total glutathione in seven of seven patients, total plasma sulfur groups in eight of nine patients, and T-helper lymphocytes and T-helper/suppressor cell ratio in six of ten patients. The lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde decreased in eight of nine patients. The results of this pilot study indicated that lipoic supplementation led to significant beneficial changes in the blood of HIV-infected patients. Hopefully, larger double blind studies will support these encouraging results.”
“Studies indicate lipoic acid also significantly inhibits the replication of HIV by reducing the activity of reverse transcriptase (the enzyme responsible for manufacturing the virus from the DNA of lymphocytes) and inhibts the actor in HIV that leads to viral replication (according to A. Baur et al. in Klinische Wochenschrift in a paper titled ‘Alpha-Lipoic Acid Is a n Effective Inhibitor of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) Replication’, published in 1991) and in a similar paper by YJ Suzuki and BB Aggarwal, published in the Biochemical Biophysical Research Communiqué, in 1992).”