Phenotypic variations and switches in HIV isolated from the blood and the gastrointestinal tissues of patients with HIV-1 infection

✍ Scribed by Al-Mulla, W.; Church, D.; Gill, M. J.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 174 KB
• Volume: 52
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199705)52:1<31::aid-jmv6>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

The objective of this study was to determine the initial and subsequent phenotypes of HIV-1 isolated from the blood, duodenal, and colonic biopsies of 51 HIV-1 positive patients followed prospectively over 2 years. Blood and tissues were cocultured with stimulated peripheral blood monocytes, and HIV was analyzed for phenotypic expression of syncytia-induction (SI). A total of 45/51 patients had HIV-1 isolated from the blood and 35/51 had HIV isolated from gastrointestinal tract. In 12/45 patients SI-HIV-1 was isolated from the blood. In 6/12 patients the blood phenotype reverted to the NSI phenotype. SI phenotypes were also isolated from the colon and duodenum of 8/35 patients and reversion from SI to NSI virus phenotype was again observed in gut tissue of 3/8 patients. These results show that gastrointestinal tissues can harbor SI HIV phenotype. Discordant phenotypes can be found in tissue and blood of late-stage patients. Reversion of phenotypic SI expression to NSI may occur in patients receiving monotherapy as antiretroviral treatment. These results suggest that gastrointestinal tissues may act as a separate and distinct site involved in HIV replication and its associated pathogenesis.