Bagnarelli P, Menzo S, Manzin A, Scalise G, Varaldo PE, Clementi M; International Conference on AIDS.

Int Conf AIDS. 1992 Jul 19-24; 8: 12 (abstract no. PuA 6007).

Institute of Microbiology, University of Ancona, Italy.

OBJECTIVES: Comprehensive evaluation of viral activity during the course of HIV-1 infection is a central node in the understanding of AIDS pathogenesis. A new PCR-based molecular assay was used to investigate the different phases of the infection in vivo, at the molecular level. METHODS: 33 HIV-1 infected individuals were studied. Virionic RNA, intracellular RNA and nuclear DNA when extracted from plasmas and PBMCs, respectively. Competitive reverse-transcription and subsequent PCR was performed using a deleted synthetic RNA internal competitor. For DNA, a deleted cloned template was used as competitor. In both cases 4 known competitor concentrations were used for each sample. Densitometric analysis of amplified products (wildtype vs deleted) was carried out and quantitative results were deduced from the regression curve. Statistical analysis of quantitative results was performed using the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test and the Spearman correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Quantitative data (copy number) were obtained for 3 different virological parameters: genomic RNA in 1 ml of plasma (range: 230-762,880, double of virion concentration), intracellular transcripts (10-258,167) and proviral DNA both normalized to 10(5) CD4+ cells (13-5,659). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that: 1) viral activity is present in every infected subject although within a wide intra- and inter-CDC class range; 2) comparison of data from all CDC classes shows sharp differences between class II + III and class IV and only slight differences between class II and class III; 3) transcriptional activity, normalized for each provirus molecule, seems to be only moderately enhanced in class IV patients; 4) all virological parameters correlate strongly with CD4+ T lymphocyte counts especially in asymptomatic phases, thus suggesting a possible use of the technique as a tool reliable enough not only for the diagnosis of this infection but also for the prognostic evaluation and monitoring of patients. More knowledge will arise from follow-up studies.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
• Follow-Up Studies
• HIV Infections
• HIV-1
• Humans
• Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Proviruses
• reverse transcriptase, Human immunodeficiency virus 1

Other ID:

• 92403482

UI: 102201196

From Meeting Abstracts