Longitudinal comparison of chemokines in breastmilk early postpartum among HIV-1-infected and uninfected Kenyan women.
Breastmilk chemokines have been associated with increased HIV-1 RNA levels in breastmilk and altered risk of mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission. To characterize CC and CXC chemokines in breastmilk postpartum, we collected breastmilk specimens at regular intervals for 6 months after delivery from women with and without HIV-1 infection and used commercial ELISA kits to measure breastmilk concentrations of MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, RANTES, and SDF-1alpha. Among 54 HIV-1-infected and 26 uninfected women, mean chemokine levels were compared cross-sectionally and longitudinally at days 5 and 10, and months 1 and 3 postpartum. For both HIV-1-infected and uninfected women, breastmilk chemokine levels were highest at day 5 for MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and SDF-1alpha, and subsequently decreased. RANTES levels remained constant over the follow-up period among HIV-1-uninfected women, and increased moderately among HIV-1-infected women. For MIP-1beta and RANTES, breastmilk levels were significantly higher among HIV-1-infected women compared to uninfected women early postpartum. In addition, HIV-1-infected women transmitting HIV-1 to their infant had consistently higher breastmilk RANTES levels than those who did not transmit, with the greatest difference observed at 1 month (2.68 vs. 2.21 log10 pg/mL, respectively; p = 0.007). In summary, all four chemokines were most elevated within the first month postpartum, a period of high transmission risk via breastmilk. MIP-1beta and RANTES levels in breastmilk were higher among HIV-1-infected women than among uninfected women, and breastmilk RANTES was positively associated with vertical transmission in this study, consistent with results from our earlier cohort.
Bosire
Rose
R
Center for Public Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Guthrie
Brandon L
BL
Lohman-Payne
Barbara
B
Mabuka
Jennifer
J
Majiwa
Maxwell
M
Wariua
Grace
G
Mbori-Ngacha
Dorothy
D
Richardson
Barbra
B
John-Stewart
Grace
G
Farquhar
Carey
C
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D018946:Chemokine CCL5 / Q000032:analysis; D018925:Chemokines / Q000032:analysis*; D019743:Chemokines, CXC / Q000032:analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D007630:Kenya; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013997:Time Factors; D019562:Viral Load
D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D018946:Chemokine CCL5; D018925:Chemokines; D019743:Chemokines, CXC; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral