3rd International Workshop on HIV Drug Resistance 2-5 August 1994, Kauai, Hawaii, USA

ISOLATION, BIOLOGICAL PHENOTYPE AND AZT SUSCEPTIBILITY OF HIV ISOLATED FROM POSTMORTEM TISSUE

Int Wkshop HIV Drug Res 1994 Aug 2-5;3:45 (abstract no. 44)

S.A. Land, K.M. McGavin, K.L. Sebire and C.J. Birch
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

AIM: To establish the biological phenotype and AZT susceptibility of HIV-1 isolates obtained from autopsy specimens.

METHOD: HIV was isolated from lymph node (LN), brain, spleen, spinal cord and CSF by co-culture with uninfected peripheral blood mononuclear leucocytes (PBMC). Biological phenotype was determined in a T-Iymphocyte line (MT-2). AZT susceptibility was tested in a PBMC-based assay. Sequencing of those regions of the RT gene previously associated with AZT resistance was carried out on some isolates.

RESULTS: The isolation rate from all samples was 49%, increasing to 60% in LN tissues. Less than one third of the isolates induced a cytopathic effect in MT-2 cells. AZT resistant virus was isolated from tissues of patients who had received long term treatment up to or shortly before death. AZT sensitive virus was isolated from others who developed peripheral resistance during life but had ceased therapy for several months prior to death.

CONCLUSION: The isolation rate of HIV from post-mortem tissues was influenced by the site and time to specimen processing. Although the syncytial inducing phenotype is supposedly associated with disease progression, less than one third of the isolates studied induced syncytial formation in MT-2 cells. AZT resistant virus could be isolated from tissues of infected patients treated with the drug. Emergence of phenotypically sensitive virus was seen in the tissues of patients who had ceased drug for several months prior to death.

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1994-08-02
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