title: High frequency of gross deletions in 5' LTR/gag and nef genes in patients infected with CRF02_AG of HIV type 1 who survived for over 20 years: an association with Korean red ginseng.
abstract: Abstract We have shown that Korean red ginseng (KRG) intake is associated with gross deletions in the 5' LTR/gag (gDeltaLTR/gag) and nef genes (gDeltanef) of patients infected with subtype B of HIV-1. Here, we investigated these effects in three long-term survivors (LTSs) of subtype CRF02_AG of HIV-1. The three LTSs were diagnosed with HIV in 1987, 1988, and 1989, and have been treated with KRG for 7-15 years. Thirty-two samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained from the subjects and used to amplify the 5' LTR/gag and nef genes via nested PCR. We obtained 88 amplicons in 5' LTR/gag and 128 amplicons in nef. The frequency of gDeltaLTR/gag was significantly higher (37.5%) in three LTSs than in control patients (8.6%, p < 0.01). Eight amplicons (9.5%) contained premature stop codon(s) in the gDeltaLTR/gag in three LTSs. Fourteen of the 128 nef amplicons (10.9%) contained the gDeltanef, which was present in only two (7.7%) of the 26 amplicons from control subjects. Interestingly, gDeltanef was detected 7 years after the reinitiation of KRG intake in an LTS and, coincidently, CD4 T cell counts and CD4/CD8 ratios rapidly increased. These data indicate that long-term intake of KRG has the therapeutic potential to induce gross deletions in HIV-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. ykcho2@amc.seoul.kr
authors.forename: Young-Keol
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: You-Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Heungsup
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Mi-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.forename: Yoo-Kyum
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D044466:Asian People; D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology*; D016325:HIV Long Terminal Repeat / Q000235:genetics*; D020276:HIV Long-Term Survivors; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005894:Panax / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D010936:Plant Extracts; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C514837:nef protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1