title: Lack of association between anti-V3 loop antibody and perinatal HIV-1 transmission in Kinshasa, Zaire, despite use of assays based on local HIV-1 strains.
abstract: Maternal antibodies against the V3 loop principal neutralizing domain (PND) have been reported to protect against perinatal HIV-1 transmission. To study this association in an African city with a long-standing HIV epidemic and no established "consensus sequence" for the V3 loop region of gp120, we determined the DNA sequence for the V3 region of HIV-1 from 13 HIV-1-infected residents of Kinshasa, Zaire, and developed peptide enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) reflecting the V3 loop PND for those HIV-1 strains. Using the most broadly reactive locally derived V3 loop peptide in a limited-antigen EIA, there was no significant difference in the perinatal HIV-1 transmission risk between 64 women with anti-V3 loop antibody (transmission risk, 30%) and 104 women without anti-V3 loop antibody (transmission risk, 25%; p = 0.5); this finding was unchanged after we controlled for maternal AIDS and low birth weight. Although we used assays for V3 loop antibody based on local HIV-1 strains and evaluated a large number of mother-child pairs, we found no evidence that maternal anti-V3 loop PND antibody protects against perinatal HIV-1 transmission.
authors.affiliation: Projet SIDA, Kinshasa, Zaire.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: St Louis
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Pau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nsuami
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Matela
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kashamuka
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Heyward
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000915:Antibody Affinity; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C059762:HIV envelope protein gp120 (305-321); D010446:Peptide Fragments