Revisiting the role of neutralizing antibodies in mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1.

We analyzed the association between mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and maternal neutralizing antibodies to heterologous primary isolates of various HIV-1 clades, to test the hypothesis that protective antibodies are those with broad neutralizing activity. Our study sample included 90 Thai women for whom the timing of HIV-1 transmission (in utero or intrapartum) was known. The statistical analysis included a conditional logistic-regression model to control for both plasma viral load and duration of zidovudine prophylaxis.