title: Extensive HIV-1 intra-host recombination is common in tissues with abnormal histopathology.
abstract: There is evidence that immune-activated macrophages infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are associated with tissue damage and serve as a long-lived viral reservoir during therapy. In this study, we analyzed 780 HIV genetic sequences generated from 53 tissues displaying normal and abnormal histopathology. We found up to 50% of the sequences from abnormal lymphoid and macrophage rich non-lymphoid tissues were intra-host viral recombinants. The presence of extensive recombination, especially in non-lymphoid tissues, implies that HIV-1 infected macrophages may significantly contribute to the generation of elusive viral genotypes in vivo. Because recombination has been implicated in immune evasion, the acquisition of drug-resistance mutations, and alterations of viral co-receptor usage, any attempt towards the successful eradication of HIV-1 requires therapeutic approaches targeting tissue macrophages.
authors.affiliation: BioInfoExperts, Thibodaux, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Susanna L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lamers
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salemi
authors.forename: Derek C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Galligan
authors.forename: Tulio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Gary B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Fogel
authors.forename: Sara C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Granier
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Joseph N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Alanna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Eliezer
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Masliah
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: McGrath