Christopherson C, Orenstein J, Kwok S, Cohen O; American Society for Microbiology. General Meeting.
Abstr Gen Meet Am Soc Microbiol. 1998 May 17-21; 98: 155 (abstract no. C-145).
Roche Molecular Systems, Alameda, CA, USA.
A quantitative HIV proviral DNA assay has been developed to assess viral burden in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of infected individuals. In this study, we compared the proviral DNA load in lymph nodes and PBMC's, and plasma HIV RNA levels in a group of long term non-progressors. Lymph nodes were classified as "active" or "inactive" on the basis of the relative degree of follicular hyperplasia. A strong positive correlation was observed between lymph node DNA and PBMC DNA (p < 0.0001); plasma RNA and PBMC DNA (p = 0.005); and plasma RNA and lymph node DNA (p = 0.0018). Negative correlations were observed between CD4 count and lymph node DNA (p = 0.06) and CD4 count and plasma RNA (p = 0.0025). Plasma viremia also appeared to correlate with lymph node histology: non-progressors with "active" nodes had higher viral load than those with "inactive" nodes but the number of isolates tested was small and the results are not statistically significant. These results are similar to those observed in the general HIV-infected population and suggest that the pathogenesis of HIV is not fundamentally different in non-progressors. These data further suggest that plasma RNA and proviral DNA provides a good window into the replicative activity within the lymph nodes.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- CD4 Lymphocyte Count
- HIV Infections
- HIV-1
- Viral Load
- Viremia
Other ID:
UI: 102226449
From Meeting Abstracts