title: In vitro anti-HIV-1 antibody production in subjects in different stages of HIV-1 infection.
abstract: We evaluated the in vitro antibody production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) against HIV-1 proteins in infected adults. Fifty-four HIV-1 infected patients (four recent seroconverters, 15 asymptomatics with a CD4 count higher than 500/microliters, 27 asymptomatics with a CD4 count between 200 and 500/microliters and eight symptomatic patients) were tested. PBMC were incubated in the presence or absence of 1% pokeweed mitogen (PWM) at 37 degrees C for 8 days. Western blot assay, p24 antigen ELISA and anti-p24 antibody ELISA were performed on serum and culture supernatants. Spontaneous production of anti-env antibody in culture supernatants was evidenced in all subjects. All the positive supernatants for anti-core antibodies (18/54) were derived from asymptomatic patients. PBMC from recent seroconverters and from symptomatic patients did not produce any anti-core antibody. Antibody production decreased after stimulation with PWM. The concentration of p24 antigen did not significantly increase in p24 positive supernatants following acidification (P = 0.1), suggesting that the inability to detect p24 antibody was not due to the anti-p24 antibody complexed to p24 antigen in culture supernatants. In vitro production of anti-p24 antibodies was significantly more frequent in asymptomatic subjects with high CD4+ cell counts (P = 0.02) and was absent in recent seroconverters. This last finding suggests that during the initial phases of the infection, anti-p24 antibody production may be restricted to cells residing in lymphoid organs. In addition, the lower percentage of anti-core antibody in people with low CD4+ cell counts is not merely a consequence of the binding of the antibody to an increased amount of antigen, but probably reflects an impaired production or a sequestration of producing cells in lymphoid tissue during the late stages of the infection.
authors.affiliation: Clinica delle Malattie Infettive, Università di Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rusconi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riva
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meroni
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zehender
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cocchi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scapellato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galli
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D000328:Adult; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000097:blood; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D007074:Immunoglobulin G