Maternal plasma viral load and neutralizing/enhancing antibodies in vertical transmission of HIV: a non-randomized prospective study.
BACKGROUND
We examined the association and interaction between maternal viral load and antibodies in vertical transmission of HIV in a non-randomized prospective study of 43 HIV-1 infected pregnant women who attended the San Juan City Hospital, Puerto Rico, and their 45 newborn infants. The women and infants received antiretroviral therapy.


METHODS
A nested PCR assay of the HIV-1 envelope V3 region and infant PBMC culture were performed to determine HIV status of the infants. Maternal and infant plasma were tested for HIV neutralization or enhancement in monocyte-derived macrophages.


RESULTS
Twelve (26.7%) infants were positive by the HIV V3 PCR assay and 3 of the 12 were also positive by culture. There was a trend of agreement between high maternal viral load and HIV transmission by multivariate analysis (OR = 2.5, CI = 0.92, p = 0.0681). Both maternal and infant plasma significantly (p = 0.001 for both) reduced HIV replication at 10(-1) dilution compared with HIV negative plasma. Infant plasma neutralized HIV (p = 0.001) at 10(-2) dilution but maternal plasma lost neutralizing effect at this dilution. At 10(-3) dilution both maternal and infant plasma increased virus replication above that obtained with HIV negative plasma but only the increase by maternal plasma was statistically significant (p = 0.005). There were good agreements in enhancing activity in plasma between mother-infant pairs, but there was no significant association between HIV enhancement by maternal plasma and vertical transmission.


CONCLUSIONS
Although not statistically significant, the trend of association between maternal viral load and maternal-infant transmission of HIV supports the finding that viral load is a predictor of maternal-infant transmission. Both maternal and infant plasma neutralized HIV at low dilution and enhanced virus replication at high dilution. The antiretroviral treatments that the women received and the small sample size may have contributed to the lack of association between HIV enhancement by maternal plasma and vertical transmission.
Kamara
Paul
P
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-0022, USA. PaulKamara@westat.com
Melendez-Guerrero
Loyda
L
Arroyo
Miguel
M
Weiss
Heidi
H
Jolly
Pauline
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D019562:Viral Load
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D015483:HIV Antibodies
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