Isotypic distribution of HIV-1-specific antibodies in individuals from central Africa. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Isotypic distribution of HIV-1-specific antibodies in individuals from central Africa.

Viral Immunol. 1992 Winter;5(4):243-8. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/93112216
Kovacsovics-Bankowski M; Carini C; Kashala O; Essex M; Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Cancer Biology,; Boston, Massachusetts.

Abstract: Individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) develop a humoral immune response to the virus's major structural gene products env, gag, and pol. The distribution of antibodies to env, gag, and pol proteins in Central African populations is of interest as they have a high level of immune system activation compared to non-African populations. Using the Western blot technique, we analyzed the isotypic distribution of anti-HIV antibodies in 45 HIV-1-infected individuals from Central Africa that were either symptomatic or asymptomatic. We observed two basic differences between the isotypic profile of individuals from Central Africa and non-African populations. Central African individuals had a strong polyisotypic response to gag and pol, which has only been observed for gag in American and European populations. In addition, individuals from Central Africa had a high frequency of IgG4 to gag and pol, 75 and 51%, respectively, as compared to 29 and 6% in a non-African population. The elevated IgG4 response may result from the high basal level of immune stimulation seen in Africans due to multiple and frequent exposures to viral, bacterial, and parasitic antigens.
Keywords: Africa, Central Human HIV Antibodies/*CLASSIFICATION HIV Antigens/IMMUNOLOGY HIV Seropositivity/IMMUNOLOGY HIV-1/*IMMUNOLOGY IgG/*CLASSIFICATION Immunoglobulin Isotypes/*CLASSIFICATION North America JOURNAL ARTICLEKWDafrica,centralhumanhivantibodies/KWDclassificationhivantigens/immunologyhivseropositivity/immunologyhiv-1/KWDimmunologyigg/KWDclassificationimmunoglobulinisotypes/KWDclassificationnorthamericajournalarticle
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