title: Consistent subtype-specific anti-HIV type 1 T lymphocyte responses in Indian subjects recently infected with HIV type 1.
abstract: Anti-HIV-1-specific T cell responses in early HIV-1 infection have been found to be important in deciding the course of disease progression. But there are few data concerning nonsubtype B HIV infection. HIV-1 subtype C is the most prevalent subtype in India. HIV-1 Gag-specific T cell responses in 12 Indian subjects with recent HIV-1 infection were characterized by an ELISpot assay at two consecutive visits and their correlation with plasma viral load and CD4(+) T lymphocyte counts was studied. Ten of the 12 subjects demonstrated T cell responses to either one or both Gag B and C peptides, on at least one visit. Five of 10 responders showed a consistent response (response at both visits): 4 exhibited a Gag C-specific consistent response and 1 showed a consistent response to Gag B. The remaining five patients, showing response at only one of the two visits, were considered inconsistent responders. None of the individuals showed a consistent response to both B and C Gag peptides. Marginally significant correlation was observed between consistency of the response and lower plasma viral load (p = 0.062). The subtype-specific Gag C response was also found to be correlated with lower viral load as compared with the response to Gag B (r = -0.336, p = 0.054 for subtype C and r = -0.234, p = 0.13 for subtype B). The data suggest that the patients exhibiting consistent subtype-specific responses to HIV-1 Gag might have better control of viral replication in early HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: National AIDS Research Institute, Pune 411026, India. hivnet@vsnl.com
authors.forename: Madhuri R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Thakar
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patke
authors.forename: Samir K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lakhashe
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bhonge
authors.forename: Sangeeta V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.forename: Srikanth P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Tripathy
authors.forename: Nikhil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gupte
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brookmeyer
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: Ramesh S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Paranjape
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Bollinger
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000276:immunology*; D015750:Genes, gag / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology*; D020180:Heteroduplex Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015683:Gene Products, gag; D012367:RNA, Viral