Oxidative stress, HIV and AIDS.

As long ago as 1983, one of us (E.P.-E.) proposed that oxidative mechanisms are of critical significance in the genesis of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). A prediction of this hypothesis was that the mechanisms responsible for AIDS could be reversed by the administration of reducing agents, especially those containing sulphydryl groups (SH groups). The discovery of HIV resulted in a broadening of this hypothesis in that it considered oxidative stress as a principal mechanism in both the development of AIDS and expression of HIV (Papadopulos-Eleopulos, 1988; Papadopulos -Eleopulos et al., 1989). However, the general acceptance of the HIV hypothesis of AIDS completely overshadowed this alternative hypothesis, and although many other scientists have questioned the role of HIV in the causation of AIDS (Duesberg, 1987; RootBernstein, 1990) Robert Gallo and most AIDS researchers consider HIV to be the sole "sine qua non" cause of AIDS.