title: Is human immunodeficiency virus RNA load composed of neutralized immune complexes?
abstract: During acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, both virus load (HIV RNA) and infectivity are high (10(3)-10(7) RNA copies/mL or TCID(50)/mL) until antibody is produced, which may reduce the HIV infectivity. In HIV carriers, the HIV RNA load is elevated (10(3)-10(5) copies/mL), but infectivity is low (10(0)-10(2) TCID(50)/mL). The low infectivity in carriers could be due to neutralization by antibody in serum, resulting in immune complexes (ICs). We demonstrated that ICs in plasma, prepared with protein A beads, contained HIV RNA (80%-100%) in association with immunoglobulin G (IgG). In comparison, ICs from patients with acute HIV infection and little or no antibody contained virtually no HIV RNA. Moreover, ICs prepared by ultrafiltration contained IgG and specifically and irreversibly neutralized HIV, which indicates that the ICs contained neutralizing antibody. These findings indicate that the HIV RNA in the plasma of carriers is frequently composed of antibody-neutralized HIV as ICs.
authors.affiliation: Virology Section, Universita Campus Biomedico, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ferdinando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dianzani
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antonelli
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riva
authors.forename: Ombretta
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Turriziani
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Antonelli
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tyring
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Carrasco
authors.forename: Hung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Derrick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Jingzhi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poast
authors.forename: Miles
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cloyd
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baron
mesh_terms: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D006678:HIV / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral