Short Communication - Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Brazilian Subtype B Variant Showed an Increasing Avidity of the Anti-V3 Antibodies over Time Compared to the Subtype B US/European Strain in São Paulo, Brazil

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 99; no. 1
• Main Authors: Jorge Casseb, Patricia Montanheiro, Shirley Komninakis, Adriana Brito, Alberto JS Duarte
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: Brazil Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 16.03.2004
• Subjects: antibody avidity; Brazil; Brazilian HIV-1 variant - V3 serotyping; human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1); São Paulo
• ISSN: 1678-8060

The Brazilian variant of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype B, (serotype B"-GWGR), has a tryptophan replacing the proline in position 328 the HIV-1 envelope. A longer median time period from infection to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) for serotype B (B"-GWGR) infected subjects compared to the B-GPGR US/European strain was reported. In a cohort study, in São Paulo city, 10 B"-GWGR patients had a statistically significant increased avidity of the anti-V3 antibodies, from 79% ± 33% to 85% ± 75%, versus from 48% ± 59% to 32% ± 17% for the 10 B-GPGR subjects (p = 0.02). The T CD4+ cells showed a mean increase of + 0.45 cells/month for the B-GPGR subjects and for B"-GWGR the slope was + 1.24 cells/month (p = 0.06), for 62 and 55 months of follow up, respectively. RNA plasma viral load decreased from 3.98 ± 1.75 to 2.16 ± 1.54 log10 in the B"-GWGR group while B-GPGR patients showed one log10 reduction in viral load from 4.09 ± 0.38 to 3.17 ± 1.47 log10 over time (p = 0.23), with a decreasing slope of -0.0042 ± log10,/month and -0.0080 ± log10/month, for B-GPGR and B"-GWGR patients, respectively (p = 0.53). Neither group presented any AIDS defining events during the study, according to Center for Diseases Control criteria. Although the sample size is small, these results may indicate that differences in the pathogenicity of the 2 HIV-1 B serotypes which co-circulate in Brazil may be correlated to the avidity of anti-V3 antibodies.