title: Use of an animal model for the study of the role of human immunodeficiency virus 1 in the human intestine.
abstract: The gastrointestinal manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 disease have centered on identifiable causes of intestinal dysfunction such as parasitic and bacterial pathogens. The lamina propria of the intestine contains cell that harbor HIV-1, but the significance of this observation remains unknown. Because limited animal models are available to evaluate the gastrointestinal effects of this infection, a system that uses human fetal intestine transplanted subcutaneously onto the back of an immunodeficient mouse was developed. After 8 weeks, fetal tissues mature into an adult-appearing tissue with a lumen. Cell-free HIV-1 was inoculated into the explants, an evidence for infection was evaluated by histological evaluation, in situ hybridization, and polymerase chain reaction. No evidence for HIV-1 incorporation into epithelial cells could be found. It was concluded that this model provides a system in which intestinal HIV-1 interaction can be evaluated. In this model, cell-free HIV-1 does not appear to infect the epithelial cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Hendren
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Isselbacher
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Folkman
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Letvin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016332:Fetal Tissue Transplantation; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D016042:Transplantation, Heterotopic