title: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 primary isolate neutralization resistance is associated with the syncytium-inducing phenotype and lower CD4 cell counts in subtype CRF01_AE-infected patients.
abstract: A number of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) non-B-subtype products have been developed for present or future vaccine trials; in Thailand, several studies using subtype B and/or CRF01_AE vaccines have been conducted. To better characterize the biologic properties of these subtypes, 70 HIV-1 subtype B and E isolates were phenotyped as syncytium-inducing (SI) or non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) isolates and assessed for sensitivity to neutralizing antibody (NAb). A significantly higher number of NSI subtype E viruses were neutralization sensitive than SI subtype E viruses (P = 0.009), while no association between viral phenotype and sensitivity to NAb was observed for subtype B (P = 0.856), suggesting a difference in the neutralization patterns of subtypes B and E. Strikingly, concurrent CD4 T-cell numbers were significantly lower for subtype E-infected patients whose isolates were more resistant to NAb, both for the overall study group (P < 0.001) as well as for the 22 patients with NSI isolates (P = 0.013). Characterization of the evolution of biologic properties of both B and non-B HIV-1 subtypes will provide a clearer understanding of the repertoire of antibodies that must be elicited for a vaccine to be effective against all phenotypes and subtypes.
authors.affiliation: Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. vpolonis@hivresearch.org
authors.forename: Victoria R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Polonis
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Janice M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Darden
authors.forename: Somsak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chantakulkij
authors.forename: Thippawan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chuenchitra
authors.forename: Sorachai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nitayaphan
authors.forename: Arthur E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Merlin L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Robb
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Birx
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral