Genetic characterization of HIV-1 from semen and blood from clade C-infected subjects from India and effect of therapy in these body compartments

• Published in: Virology (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2010-06, Vol.401 (2), p.190-196
• Main Authors: Shen, Chengli, Ding, Ming, Craigo, Jodi K, Tarwater, Patrick, Chatterjee, Ramdas, Roy, Pratima, Guha, Subhasish K, Saha, Bibhuti, Modak, Dolonchapa, Neogi, Dhrubak, Chen, Yue, Gupta, Phalguni
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anti-HIV Agents - therapeutic use; Antiretroviral therapy; Blood - virology; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Clade C HIV-1; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - classification; HIV-1 - genetics; HIV-1 - isolation & purification; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Humans; India; Infectious Disease; Male; Middle Aged; Molecular Sequence Data; Polymorphism, Genetic; RNA, Viral - genetics; RNA, Viral - isolation & purification; Semen; Semen - virology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Viral Load; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0042-6822; 1096-0341
• DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2010.01.033

Abstract Biologic and genetic differences between HIV-1 clade C in India and clade B in US suggest that the effect of anti-viral therapy in various body compartments may differ between these two clades. We examined the effect of therapy on viral loads in semen and blood of HIV-1-clade C infected subjects from India and evaluated whether HIV-1 in the semen is different from that in blood in these subjects. HIV-1 RNA was detected in semen and blood at all stages of the disease. Viral loads in semen and blood were strongly correlated with each other, but not with the CD4+ T cell count. Anti-viral treatment reduced viral load drastically in blood and semen within one month of post therapy. Genetic characterization of HIV-1 in the semen and blood demonstrated that they were highly compartmentalized. These data have important implications of sexual transmission of HIV-1 in clade C HIV-1 infected subjects.