Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) by variant B of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6).
Four HHV-6 strains were initially isolated during attempts to observe HIV-1 replication in cultured primary lymphocytes from 48 patients with AIDS. HHV-6 DNA from each strain was extracted from primary cell cultures and amplified using specific primers in a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. All HHV-6 strains were classified as B variants by submitting the PCR products to the digestion of two restriction enzymes (Hind III and Bgl II). Since in primary cultures, the appearance of HHV-6 cytopathic effect was followed by a progressive reduction of HIV-1 replication, we tried to reproduce the observed inhibition in vitro. Two HHV-6 strains, used throughout the experiments, showed their ability to suppress HIV-1 replication when the viruses co-infected CD4+T lymphocyte cultures. While the intrinsic mechanism of this finding still remains unclear, the inhibition of HIV-1 replication was observed only when a high multiplicity of infection (m.o.i.) of HHV-6 and a low m.o.i. of HIV-1 were used in dually infected cell cultures. By using a semiquantitative determination of HIV-1 cDNA by PCR, it appears that the inhibition begins in infected cell cultures and, once established, does not allow any further HIV-1 replication.
Bonura
F
F
Dipartimento di Igiene e Microbiologia G. D'Alessandro, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi, Palermo, Italia.
Perna
A M
AM
Vitale
F
F
Villafrate
M R
MR
Viviano
E
E
Guttadauro
R
R
Mazzola
G
G
Romano
N
N
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000821:virology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology; D016923:Cell Death; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000032:analysis; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000254:growth & development*; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D014762:Viral Interference; D014779:Virus Replication
D004279:DNA, Viral; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24