Hart C, Lennox JL, Evans-Strickfaden T, Bush T, Schnell C, Clancy K, Pratt-Palmore M, Conley L, Ellerbrock TV; Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

Program Abstr 5th Conf Retrovir Oppor Infect Conf Retrovir Oppor Infect 5th 1998 Chic Ill. 1998 Feb 1-5; 5th: 212 (abstract no. 714).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.

Objectives: To determine if the absence of the cervix affects vaginal HIV-1 RNA levels and to compare viral genotypes in cervical mucus and vaginal secretions. Methods: Plasma, vaginal lavage, and cervical mucus were obtained from 42 women with a cervix, and plasma and lavage were obtained from 16 women without a cervix. HIV-1 RNA was quantified, using QC-PCR with a microtiter detection assay. The C2-V3 region of gpl20 was examined using direct cycle sequencing of HIV-1 DNA amplified from reverse-transcribed RNA and phylogenetic analysis. Results: None of the 58 women had N. gonorrhea, C. trachomatis, or cervicitis. HIV-1 RNA was detected in 64% (27/42) of vaginal lavage samples from women with a cervix, compared to 44% (7/16) of vaginal lavages from women without a cervix (p=0.2). HIV-1 RNA ranged from less than l,000 to 122,000 copies/lavage (median less than 1,000) in women with a cervix, and less than 1,000 to 100,700 copies/lavage (median less than 1,000) in women without a cervix. Also, the associations of vaginal viral load to plasma viral load and CD4+ T lymphocyte level were not statistically different in women with and without a cervix (p greater than 0.05). In women with a cervix, the amount of HIV-1 RNA in cervical mucus was correlated with that in vaginal lavage (Spearman correlation coefficient R = 0.59, p less than 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis showed that cervical mucus and vaginal lavage viruses were more closely related to one another than to the matched plasma virus. In the 2 women tested, the amino acid differences between cervical and vaginal HIV were 0.9% and 1.8%, while the differences between cervical and plasma HIV were 7.9% and 9.6%, respectively. Conclusions: This data suggests that the viral populations in the cervix and vagina are closely related. However, detection of significant vaginal viral loads in women without a cervix suggests that HIV shedding occurs through the vaginal mucosa.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• AIDS Vaccines
• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Anti-HIV Agents
• Case-Control Studies
• Cervix Mucus
• Cervix Uteri
• Female
• HIV
• HIV Antibodies
• HIV Envelope Protein gp120
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Humans
• Vagina
• Viral Load
• immunology

Other ID:

• 98929638

UI: 102236291

From Meeting Abstracts