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

• Published in: AIDS research and human retroviruses Vol. 25; no. 5; p. 535
• Main Authors: Cho, Young-Keol, Jung, You-Sun, Sung, Heungsup, Sim, Mi-Kyung, Kim, Yoo-Kyum
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.2009
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Codon, Nonsense; Female; gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus - genetics; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - virology; HIV Long Terminal Repeat - genetics; HIV Long-Term Survivors; HIV-1 - genetics; Humans; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - virology; Male; Molecular Sequence Data; nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus - genetics; Panax - chemistry; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Deletion
• ISSN: 1931-8405
• DOI: 10.1089/aid.2008.0301

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.