title: Characterization of HIV isolates from Puerto Rican maternal-infant pairs reveal predominance of non-syncytium inducing (NSI) variants with CCR5 genotype.
abstract: In this study, HIV-1 variants from a cohort of forty-eight Puerto Rican pregnant women and their 50 infants (one had triplets), were isolated and characterized, in order to determine the type of HIV-1 variants that are predominantly transmitted. All were enrolled in the prenatal AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) and received anti-retroviral therapy. Fifteen of the 50 infants (30%) were positive by V3 PCR suggesting that they harbored a copy of the HIV envelope gene. Three of 50 infants (6%) were HIV-1 culture and PCR positive, indicating active infection. HIV-positive cultures were obtained from 32 of the 48 mothers. Sixty two percent of the isolates (20/32) were macrophage-tropic and non-syncytium inducing, three percent (1/32) had dual tropism, and thirty four percent (11/32) were non-syncytium inducing and did not grow in macrophages. Phenotype and genotype of the HIV variants from the three infected infants revealed the presence of macrophage-tropic and non-syncytium-inducing strains. Genotype analysis of the HIV env V3 loop revealed the presence of specific amino acids that are predictive of CCR5 usage. Sequence analysis of the HIV pol gene from the three infected infants indicated that vertical transmission was not caused by the presence of antiviral resistance mutations. These results indicate that mothers undergoing antiretroviral treatment at different stages of the disease and with different viral loads transmit predominantly macrophage-tropic/non-syncytium inducing/CCR5 variants to their infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Medical Zoology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan 00936-5067, USA. lmelendez@rcm.upr.edu
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Melendez-Guerrero
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Arroyo
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Vega
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Hillyer
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cadilla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000821:virology*; D011647:Puerto Rico; D019713:Receptors, CCR5 / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C059762:HIV envelope protein gp120 (305-321); D010446:Peptide Fragments; D019713:Receptors, CCR5