Subtype C Is Associated with Increased Vaginal Shedding of HIV-1

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 192; no. 3; pp. 492 - 496
• Main Authors: John-Stewart, Grace C., Nduati, Ruth W., Rousseau, Christine M., Mbori-Ngacha, Dorothy A., Richardson, Barbra A., Rainwater, Stephanie, Panteleeff, Dana D., Overbaugh, Julie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01.08.2005; University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Breast milk; Colostrum - virology; Disease transmission; DNA; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genitalia; HIV 1; HIV Seropositivity - transmission; HIV-1 - classification; HIV-1 - isolation & purification; HIV/AIDS; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infections; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Phylogeny; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - virology; RNA; RNA, Viral - blood; Secretion; Sexual transmission; Vagina - virology; Viral Load; Virology; Virus Shedding; Women; Virus; Infection; Microbiology; HIV-1 virus; Dissemination; Retroviridae; Vagina; Human immunodeficiency virus; Lentivirus; Subtype
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/431514

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–1–infected cells and HIV-1 RNA levels in genital secretions and breast milk and the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 were compared among subtypes A, C, and D in a Kenyan cohort. Pregnant women infected with subtype C were significantly more likely to shed HIV-1–infected vaginal cells than were those infected with subtype A or D (odds ratio [OR], 3.6 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.4–8.8]; P = .006). This relationship held after adjusting for age, CD4 cell count, and plasma HIV-1 RNA load (OR, 3.1 [95% CI, 1.1–8.6]; P=.03). These observations suggest that HIV-1 subtype influences mucosal shedding of HIV-1