Ontogeny of the humoral immune response to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in infants.
In a cohort of infants born to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected mothers, changes in the levels of HIV-1 specific antibodies were measured during the first year of life. In uninfected children, the level of antibodies to six HIV-1 antigens (gp120, p66, p41, p31, p24, and p17) decreased continuously until becoming negative. In contrast, rising levels of one or more specific antibodies were detected in 9 of 12 infected children at a median age of 6 months. At 1 year of age, 8 infants were still asymptomatic and classified as P-1. All had serologic profiles consistent with de novo specific antibody production. In contrast, among the 4 infants who had early disease (class P-2), 3 had no significant rise in antibody to HIV-1. These results indicate that poor immune response, which could result from early infection of the infant, is often associated with rapid clinical progression.
Henrard
D
D
Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL 60064.
Fauvel
M
M
Samson
J
J
Delage
G
G
Boucher
M
M
Hankins
C
C
Stephens
J
J
Lapointe
N
N
D015331:Cohort Studies; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens