Therapeutic prediction of HIV-1 DNA decay: a multicenter longitudinal cohort study.

Background: Factors predicting peripheral blood total HIV-1 DNA size in chronically infected patients with successfully suppressed viremia remain unclear. Prognostic power of such factors are of clinical significance for making clinical decisions.

Methods: Two sets of study populations were included: 490 China AIDS Clinical Trial (CACT) participants (Training cohort, followed up for 144 to 288 weeks) and 117 outpatients from Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) (Validation cohort, followed up for more than 96 weeks).

The effects of antiretroviral therapy initiation time on HIV reservoir size in Chinese chronically HIV infected patients: a prospective, multi-site cohort study.

Background: The effect of ART initiation time on HIV-1 DNA reservoir in chronically infected individuals is not well understood. Determining the potential influencing factors associated with a low HIV-1 DNA level in chronic infection is an important step toward drug-free control.

Methods: A prospective study included 444 chronically HIV-infected adults was performed.

A higher CD4/CD8 ratio correlates with an ultralow cell-associated HIV-1 DNA level in chronically infected patients on antiretroviral therapy: a case control study.

Background: The HIV-1 DNA reservoir is an important marker that reflects viro-immunological status and can be affected by multiple viral or cellular factors. Determining the potential factors associated with the size of the HIV-1 DNA reservoir benefits the surveillance of disease progression and antiretroviral treatments.

Methods: We conducted a case control study to explore the factors that may affect the level of HIV-1 DNA.

Elevated pre-treatment IL-18 level is associated with HBeAg seroconversion in HIV-HBV coinfection.

Background: In HBV-infected patients, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion is associated with better outcomes. Interleukin-18 (IL-18) controls hepatitis B replication in a mouse model. However, its role in treatment response in HIV-HBV-coinfected patients is unknown.

Factors Associated with the Size of HIV DNA Reservoir.

Objective: To review the recent literatures related to the factors associated with the size of the HIV reservoir and their clinical significance.

Data Sources: Literatures related to the size of HIV DNA was collected from PubMed published from 1999 to June 2016.

Study Selection: All relevant articles on the HIV DNA and reservoir were collected and reviewed, with no limitation of study design.

Molecular linkage tracing of HIV-1 transmission events in seroconcordant couples in Guangxi Province, Southeastern China.

Background: Guangxi Province in Southeastern China has one of the highest HIV-1 infection and transmission rates in stable couples. However, the mode of transmission at the molecular level has seldom been reported amongst this group. It is important to investigate this issue to support the treatment-as-prevention approach and for efficient interventions.

HIV sequence diversity during the early phase of infection is associated with HIV DNA reductions during antiretroviral therapy.

The association between baseline human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) sequence diversity and HIV DNA decay after the initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains uncharacterized during the early stages of HIV infection. Samples were obtained from a cohort of 17 patients with early HIV infection (<6 months after infection) who initiated ART, and the C2V5 region of the HIV-1 envelope (env) gene was amplified via single genome amplification (SGA) to determine the peripheral plasma HIV quasispecies. We categorized HIV quasispecies into two groups according to baseline viral sequence genetic distance, which was determined by the Poisson-Fitter tool.

Lamivudine Monotherapy-Based cART Is Efficacious for HBV Treatment in HIV/HBV Coinfection When Baseline HBV DNA <20,000 IU/mL.

Background: Although combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) including tenofovir (TDF)+lamivudine (3TC) or emtricitabine (FTC) is recommended for treatment of HIV/HBV coinfected patients, TDF is unavailable in some resource-limited areas. Some data suggest that 3TC monotherapy-based cART may be effective in patients with low pretreatment HBV DNA.

Methods: Prospective study of 151 Chinese HIV/HBV coinfected subjects of whom 60 received 3TC-based cART and 91 received TDF+3TC-based cART.

Identification of a novel HIV Type 1 circulating recombinant form (CRF65_cpx) composed of CRF01_AE and subtypes B and C in Western Yunnan, China.

A novel HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF) designated CRF65_cpx was recently characterized from three epidemiologically unlinked individuals infected through heterosexual contact in western Yunnan province of China. This is the first complex mosaic HIV-1 CRF, consisting of contributions from three or more different subtypes, identified in China. An additional full-length genome sequence with identical recombinant breakpoints was found among a previously reported recombinant strain from a man who had sex with a man in Anhui province of East Central China.

Genome sequence of a novel HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF64_BC) identified from Yunnan, China.

We report a novel HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF64_BC) that was isolated from five epidemiologically unlinked HIV-infected persons in Yunnan province. CRF64_BC was composed of subtype B and subtype C, with five short subtype B segments inserted into the subtype C backbone. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the C subregion was correlated with the India C lineage, which was transmitted into China in the early 1990s.

Identification of a novel HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF62_BC) in western Yunnan of China.

We report here a novel HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF62_BC) that was isolated from three epidemiologically unlinked individuals [one from an injecting drug user (IDU); two from heterosexuals] in Dehong prefecture of western Yunnan province. CRF62_BC harbored two subtype B segments in the pol and vpu-env regions in a subtype C backbone. Subregion tree analysis demonstrated that subtype B regions originated from a Thai-B (subtype B') lineage and the subtype C region was from an India C lineage.

Near full-length genome characterization of a new CRF01_AE/CRF08_BC recombinant transmitted between a heterosexual couple in Guangxi, China.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype CRF01_AE is transmitted mainly by sexual activity in Guangxi, southwestern China. Other subtypes, including CRF07_BC, CRF08_BC, and subtype B, are also prevalent in this region. Cocirculation of multiple subtypes, as well as a high rate of drug use, creates favorable conditions for the emergence of recombinant viruses in Guangxi.

Compromised NK cell-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity in chronic SIV/SHIV infection.

Increasing evidence indicates that antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) contributes to the control of HIV/SIV infection. However, little is known about the ADCC function of natural killer (NK) cells in non-human primate model. Here we demonstrated that ADCC function of NK cells was significantly compromised in chronic SIV/SHIV infection, correlating closely with the expression of FcγRIIIa receptor (CD16) on NK cells.

Lipid rafts uncouple surface expression of transmembrane TNF-alpha from its cytotoxicity associated with ICAM-1 clustering in Raji cells.

Since transmembrane tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tmTNF-alpha) has been reported to have a palmitoylated site at Cys(-47), and therefore its functions may be linked to lipid raft membrane microdomains. The present study tested a hypothesis that lipid rafts may serve as a signaling platform to mediate the bioactivity of tmTNF-alpha. We found that destruction of lipid rafts with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MCD) in Raji cells almost completely blocked the cytotoxicity of tmTNF-alpha, as did an anti-TNF-alpha antibody.

Rapid purification of human albumin with immunomagnetic microsphere technology.

Aim: To develop a rapid and inexpensive method for purification of human albumin, a method of immunomagnetic microspheres (IMMS) based on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the purification of human albumin from human serum.

Methods: Polystyrene magnetic microspheres with carboxyl groups as carriers were prepared, and then the carboxyl groups on the surface of the microspheres were activated by ethylcarbodiimide (EDC). Finally rabbit anti-human serum albumin (HSA) antibodies were covalently bound to it and the complex can specifically capture HSA.