Abstract
Enfuvirtide (T‐20) is the first inhibitor of human Immunodeficiency Virus type‐1 (HIV‐1) entrance on a target cell approved for clinical use. Recent studies indicated that its action mechanism involves the interaction with the membrane surface, increasing the concentration in the site of action. In the present study, the in vitro interaction between enfuvirtide and blood cells of healthy human donors, namely erythrocytes and lymphocytes, and the peptide effect on plasma and lymphocyte suspensions supernatant ions were evaluated, in order to better characterize the action of this peptide. Enfuvirtide causes a decrease in the concentration of hemoglobin and in the percentages of methemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin, together with increased values of P~50~, pCO~2~, and [HCO~3~^−^], and significant decreases of pO~2~ and pH, in blood plasma. The supernatants of lymphocyte suspensions derived from blood incubated with enfuvirtide presented a decrease in pH and [HCO~3~^−^]. Fluorescence anisotropy measurements of 1,6‐diphenyl‐1,3,5‐hexatriene (DPH) and 1‐(4‐(trimethylamino)‐phenyl)‐6‐phenyl‐1,3,5‐hexatriene (TMA‐DPH), used to assess erythrocyte and lymphocyte membrane fluidity, did not yield enfuvirtide‐induced changes (an effect could be expected due to peptide partition to lipid bilayers). Erythrocytes incubated with high enfuvirtide concentrations showed a significant decrease in osmotic fragility. As for erythrocyte deformability, enfuvirtide leads to increased elongation indexes for low shear stress values, whereas for high shear stress values it has the opposite effect. Despite the observed statistically significant variations in several parameters, these enfuvirtide‐induced changes are not expected to lead to any detectable biomedical outcome for enfuvirtide‐treated patients. Copyright © 2008 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.