AEGiS-11IAC: V3-based PEIA for serodifferentiation of HIV types and subtypes: non-B HIV-1 subtypes contribute to the epidemic in Germany, Spain and Israel.

11th International AIDS Conference

Vancouver, British Columbia — July 7-12, 1996

V3-based PEIA for serodifferentiation of HIV types and subtypes: non-B HIV-1 subtypes contribute to the epidemic in Germany, Spain and Israel.

Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:217 (abstract no. Tu.A.105)
Dietrich U, Ruppach H, Gehring S, Maayan S, Soriano V, Knechten H, Jaeger H, Ruebsamen-Waigmann H; Georg-Speyer Haus, Frankfurt, Germany. Fax: 49-69-63395-297. E-mail: briesen@em.uni-frankfurt.de.

OBJECTIVE: To provide practical methods in order to monitor the distribution of HIV types and subtypes in different countries and to be able to follow changes in the HIV epidemic.

METHODS: A V3-based PEIA system was developed and evaluated for efficient serodifferentiation of HIV-1 and HIV-2 as well as several HIV-1 subtypes. The seroreactivity of about 700 HIV-positive sera was evaluated, originating from Germany, Spain, India, Rwanda, Brazil and Thailand and representing HIV-1 subtypes A, B, C, E and F as well as HIV-2. In order to correlate serological reaction patterns in the PEIA with the corresponding HIV genotypes, either a large number of sera with already known genotype was tested or genetic analysis of the V3-region was performed subsequently by direct sequencing. The feasibility of the system was demonstrated testing 150 sera from Israel, a country where nothing was known so far about the HIV types and subtypes present.

RESULTS: Differentiation between HIV-1 and HIV-2 as well as between HIV-1 subtypes A, B, C and E can be achieved at the sbased on the seroreactivity pattern with four different V3 peptides. Ambigous or absent seroreactivity patterns are mainly due to the presence of subtypes other than A, B, C or E, to single amino acid exchanges in the V3-loop or to low antibody titers in seroconvertors. Based on the V3-PEIA reactivity we could detect multiple HIV-1 subtypes in Israel. Whereas Israelis and Palestinians were infected by HIV-1B, the large Ethiopian population was infected by HIV-1C. Occasionally, we also found HIV-1A and D and an intersubtype recombinant. Genetic analysis was performed on 23 samples from Israel representing characteristic or abnormal reactivity patterns in the PEIA, different risk groups or foreign origin of infection. In only one sample, serotype and genotype did not match. In addition, we used the V3-PEIA to classify recent HIV-1 infections in Germany according to viral subtype. Among 11 HIV-1 infections acquired by Germans in the last 3 to 12 months, we found 3 times subtype E, 1 time subtype C and 7 times subtype B. Thus, non-B HIV-1 subtypes clearly contribute to the Western HIV epidemic among the new infections.

CONCLUSION: This V3-PEIA allows to differentiate between HIV-1 and HIV-2, as well as between HIV-1 subtypes A, B, C and E based on the seroreactivity pattern with 4 peptides. Therefore, the system is very suited to monitor the HIV epidemic in large populations in terms of the prevalence of these HIV types and subtypes. New features of the epidemic like entering of new viral subtypes into a population can be recognized as well as infections with more than one subtype. (1) and the WHO Network for HIV Isolation and Characterization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Keywords: AEGIS, HIV-1, HIV, HIV Infections, HIV Envelope Protein gp120, HIV Antibodies, HIV Antigens, HIV-2, Disease Outbreaks, Serotyping, HIV Seropositivity, Germany, Spain, Israel, Genotype, Peptides, Ethiopia, Africa, Rwanda, Thailand, Switzerland, India, Case-Control Studies, Brazil, genetics, ICA11

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