title: Macrophage-tropic HIV-1 variants: initiators of infection and AIDS pathogenesis?
abstract: The importance of macrophage-tropic HIV-1 variants in AIDS pathogenesis becomes increasingly clear. Macrophage-tropic HIV-1 variants initiate infection, predominate in the asymptomatic phase, and persist throughout infection, even after the emergence of preferential T cell-tropic HIV-1 variants. HIV-1 infection of macrophages may contribute to the overall immune dysfunction observed in AIDS pathogenesis. Here, our knowledge of the biological variability of HIV-1, and specifically macrophage-tropic HIV-1 variants, is reviewed. Moreover, hypotheses about the mechanism of selection for macrophage-tropic variants in transmission, the mechanism by which these variants selectively persist in the asymptomatic phase, and how they may contribute to the general immune dysfunction are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Viro-Immunology, Central Laboratory Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Services, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schuitemaker
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*