Table 3.

Effect of leucine aminopeptidase on HIV-1 infection

	Cytopathicity (syncytia/well)			p24 Levels (nmol/ml)
	Days post-infection
	3	5	7	3	5	7
Control	40±1.5	90±1.5	169±3.0	0.06±0.003	1.94±0.096	4.29±0.210
LAP (0.10 U/ml)	77±1.0	138±5	332±11	0.136±0.004	4.53±0.560	9.62±0.520

Incubation of HUT78 cells with LAP (0.10 U/ml) 12 h before and during HIV-1 infection caused a two-fold increase in p24 levels, as well as in the number of syncytia/well found in the infected cells alone suggesting an increased proneness to HIV infection. The addition of LAP did not affect cell viability. The average viability of HUT78 cells incubated with LAP (0.10 U/ml) during 7 days without infection was 97.0±5.1% (n=15).