Isolation of HIV-1 from seropositive people living in Cotonou, Benin.
Benin is located in West Africa and is situated between HIV-2 and HIV-1-endemic zones. The first cases of HIV-1 infection in Benin were reported in 1987. Since then, AIDS cases have been diagnosed there and the number of known HIV-seropositive people has rapidly increased. Blood samples were collected from 14 seropositive and 11 seronegative patients living in the main city, Cotonou, and their peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured. In seven of the seropositive cases, a retrovirus was detected by measurement of Mg2(+)-dependent reverse transcriptase activity and electron microscopy. HIV-1 antigen assay and genomic analysis indicated that the isolated viruses belong to the first serotype. In each positive case, an HIV-1 DNA probe hybridized to the RNA extracted from the virus and six isolates were found positive by the polymerase chain reaction using HIV-1-specific primers.
Mousset
B
B
Departement de Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine, UCL, Belgium.
Bigot
A
A
Heusterspreute
M
M
Goebbels
P
P
Zohoun
I
I
Larzul
D
D
Kettmann
R
R
Delferriere
N
N
Vercruysse
V
V
Bodeus
M
M
D001483:Base Sequence; D001541:Benin; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015342:DNA Probes; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000382:microbiology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000382:microbiology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D015183:Restriction Mapping
D015342:DNA Probes; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase