Hepatitis C virus in lymphoid cells of patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1: evidence of active replication in monocytes/macrophages and lymphocytes.
It has been reported that hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be lymphotropic in the setting of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) coinfection. The present study was undertaken to determine the phenotype of lymphoid cells harboring replicating HCV in HIV-1-positive subjects. By means of highly strand-specific thermostable enzyme Tth-based reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, the presence of viral RNA-negative strand was sought in different subpopulations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 HIV-positive patients. HCV RNA-negative strand was most commonly present in monocytes/macrophages (4 cases), followed by CD8+ and CD4+ lymphocytes (2 cases) and CD19+ cells (1 case). In 2 cases that were further analyzed, viral-negative strand remained detectable in monocytes/macrophages cultured for 3 weeks. Moreover, monocyte/macrophage- and serum-derived viral sequences differed in the 5' untranslated region. These findings imply that, in HIV-infected subjects, HCV may replicate in the same cells as HIV-1, which raises the possibility of direct interactions between these pathogens.
Laskus
T
T
Division of Transplantation Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA. laskus.tomasz@mayo.edu
Radkowski
M
M
Piasek
A
A
Nowicki
M
M
Horban
A
A
Cianciara
J
J
Rakela
J
J
D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009000:Monocytes / Q000821:virology; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D014779:Virus Replication
D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D012367:RNA, Viral