Effect of glutathione depletion and oral N‐acetyl‐cysteine treatment on CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ cells

HIV‐infected individuals and SIV‐infected rhesus macaques have, on the average, decreased plasma cysteine and cystine concentrations and decreased intracellular glutathione levels. We show that the cysteine supply and the intracellular glutathione levels have a strong influence on the T cell system, A study of healthy human subjects revealed that persons with intracellular glutathione levels of 20‐30 nmol/mg protein had significantly higher numbers of CD4 + T cells than persons with either lower or higher glutathione levels. Persons who moved during a 4‐weck observation period from the optimal to the suboptimal range (10‐20 nmol/mg) experienced, on the average, a 30% decrease in CD4 + T cell numbers. This decrease was prevented by treatment with N‐acetyl‐cysteine (NAC). NAC caused this relative increase of CD4 + T cell numbers in spite of decreasing glutathione levels and not by increasing the glutathione level. Our studies suggest that the immune system may be exquisitely sensitive not only against a cysteine and glutathione deficiency but also against an excess of cysteine.—Kinscherf, R., Fischbach, T., Mihm, S., Roth, S., Hohenhaus‐Sievert, E., Weiss, C., Edler, L., Bärtsch, P., Dröge, W. Effect of glutathione depletion and oral N‐acetyl‐cysteine treatment on CD4 + and CD8 + cells. FASEB J. 8: 448‐451; 1994.