Prevalence of Antibodies to Lymphadenopathy-Associated Retrovirus in African Patients with AIDS

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 226; no. 4673; pp. 453 - 456
• Main Authors: Brun-Véezinet, F., Rouzioux, C., Montagnier, L., Chamaret, S., Gruest, J., Barré-Sinoussi, F., Geroldi, D., Chermann, J. C., McCormick, J., Mitchell, S., Piot, P., Taelman, H., Mirlangu, Kapita Bila, Wobin, Odio, Mbendi, N., Mazebo, P., Kalambayi, Kayembe, Bridts, C., Desmyter, J., Feinsod, F. M., Quinn, T. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC The American Association for the Advancement of Science 26.10.1984; American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - immunology; AIDS; AIDS (Disease); AIDS related complex; AIDS research; AIDS/HIV; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - analysis; Antigens; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Cancer research; Control groups; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; Female; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infections; Lymphatic Diseases - microbiology; Male; Medical sciences; Radioimmunoassay; Retroviridae; Retroviridae - immunology; Retroviruses; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer - cytology; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - cytology; Viral research; Virus research; Viruses; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Human; Immunopathology; Homosexuality; Skin disease; Multiple; Antibody; Retroviridae; AIDS; Hemopathy; African; Infection; Virus; Adenopathy; Viral disease; Venereal disease
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.6238406

The presence of antibodies to lymphadenopathy-associated retrovirus (LAV) was determined by a radioimmunoprecipitation assay and by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent solid assay of sera from Zairian patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1983. Thirty-five of 37 patients (94 percent) and 32 of 36 patients (88 percent), respectively, were seropositive by the two tests. In a control group of 26 patients, six (23 percent) showed positive results in these tests. Of these six control patients, five had clinically demonstrable infectious diseases and a low ratio of T4 to T8 lymphocytes. In addition, sera collected from a control group of Zairian mothers in 1980 were positive for LAV in 5 of 100 cases. Other serologic data suggest that LAV was present as early as 1977 in Zaire.