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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2001, p. 822-824, Vol. 8, No. 4
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.4.822-824.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Neutralizing Antibodies against Autologous Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Isolates in Patients with Increasing CD4 Cell Counts despite Incomplete Virus Suppression during Antiretroviral Treatment

Loredana Sarmati,1 Gabriella d'Ettorre,2 Emanuele Nicastri,3 Lucia Ercoli,1 Ilaria Uccella,1 Paola Massetti,2 Saverio Giuseppe Parisi,4 Vincenzo Vullo,2 and Massimo Andreoni1,*

Department of Public Health, University of Rome "Tor Vergata,"1 Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University of Rome "La Sapienza,"2 and National Institute of Infectious Diseases, IRCCS L. Spallanzani,3 Rome, and Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Verona, Verona,4 Italy

Received 19 December 2000/Returned for modification 8 February 2001/Accepted 18 April 2001

Antiretroviral-treated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1-seropositive individuals can remain clinically stable for a long period of time with an increasing CD4 cell count irrespective of incomplete viral suppression. We evaluated the role of neutralizing antibody (NtAb) activity in the etiopathogenesis of this viro-immunological disconnection (defined as an increasing CD4+-cell count despite a persistent, detectable viral load during antiretroviral therapy) in 33 patients failing therapy with two analogue nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. An HIV NtAb titer of >= 1:25 was detected in specimens from 16 out of 33 (48%) patients. A significant correlation was found between NtAb titers and CD4+-cell counts (P = 0.001; r = 0.546) but not with HIV RNA levels in plasma. Five patients with a viro-immunological disconnection had an NtAb titer of >1:125, statistically higher than the NtAb titers for the remaining 28 patients with both virologic and immunologic failure (P < 0.0001). The HIV-specific humoral immune response could play a role during antiretroviral treatment to improve immunological function despite an incomplete suppression of viral load.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Public Health, University "Tor Vergata," Via di Tor Vergata 135, 00133 Rome, Italy. Phone and fax: 39-06-72596873. E-mail: andreoni{at}uniroma2.it.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2001, p. 822-824, Vol. 8, No. 4
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.4.822-824.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.




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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.