Important note: Information in this article was accurate in October 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, October 15, 2001
Michael Greer, Senior Medical Writer
NewsRx -- HIV infection follows different patterns depending on the means of transmission, which need to be taken into account during vaccine studies, researchers in the United States warn.
"Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is largely a result of heterosexual exposure, leading many investigators to evaluate mucosal vaccines for protection against intravaginal (i.vag.) transmission in macaque models of AIDS," explained Marnix L. Bosch and colleagues at Seattle's School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Washington Regional Primate Research Center, and the University of Washington. "Relatively little is known, however, about the dynamics of viral replication and the ensuing immune response following mucosal infection."
Viral and immune activity shortly after vaginal infection varies substantially that following intravenous infection, Bosch and coworkers found.
The researchers studied the dynamics of simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) infection in macaques. When SHIV was transmitted to these animals via the vaginal route, they observed faster and more potent mucosal antibody and cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses.
However, peripheral viral activity and immune responses were delayed in vaginally infected animals, Bosch and team noted. Reductions in CD4 cell counts, positive SHIV test results, and peaks in peripheral blood viral RNA levels were seen one week later in these macaques than in those exposed intravenously to SHIV.
The celerity and degree of systemic immune responses were similar in both groups of animals ("Evidence for early local viral replication and local production of antiviral immunity upon mucosal simian-human immunodeficiency virus SHIV89.6 infection in Macaca nemestrina," J Virol 2001 Sep;75(18):8589-96.
"These observations demonstrate that compartmentalization of viral replication and induction of local antiviral immunity occur in the genital tract early after i.vag. but not i.v. inoculation," Bosch and colleagues concluded. "Induction of mucosal immunity to target this local, contained replication should be a goal in HIV vaccine development."
The corresponding author for this report is Marnix L. Bosch, Department of Molecular Medicine, Northwest Hospital, Bothell, WA 98021 US. E-mail: marnix@nwbio.com.
A search at www.NewsRx.net using the term "AIDS and HIV vaccine" returned 114 articles in 16 specialized reports.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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