AIDSWEEKLY Plus, 11 November 1996
Daniel J. DeNoon, Senior Editor

The data come from a study of Western blot reactivity patterns among U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel who tested positive for HIV between 1986 and 1991.

"This and a previous study [Nicholson et al., AIDS Res H, 1989;5:205] suggest that strong antibody responses to products of the gag gene are correlated with slower progression of HIV infection," wrote Frank C. Garland of the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, and colleagues.

"If this association is causal rather than artifactual, then preserving the antigenic features of gag-encoded proteins might be important for candidate vaccines intended to reduce progression."

Garland et al. reported their findings in the journal Annals of Epidemiology ("Western Blot Banding Patterns of HIV Rapid Progressors in the U.S. Navy Seropositive Cohort: Implications for Vaccine Development," Ann Epidemiol, 1996;6:341-7).

From a cohort of 3414 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel who tested positive for HIV, the researchers identified 325 rapid progressors. These individuals had a decline in CD4 cell count to less than 500 cells/(micro)L within one year of seroconversion.

The rapid progressors were compared to a group of 63 slower progressors, whose CD4 counts remained above 500 cells/(micro)L for at least five years after seroconversion.

The two groups were well matched for race and sex, although the rapid progressors were slightly younger and more likely to have never married.

"Rapid progressors had weaker reactivity in the anti-p55 core precursor (P<0.0001), p15 core (P<0.01), gp41 transmembrane (P<0.01,) and p31 endonuclease (P<0.05) bands on the Western blot," Garland et al. reported. "The odds ratio for rapid progressor status associated with weak or absent reactivity was 7.8 in the anti-p55 band and ranged from 2.0 to 3.2 in the anti-p31, p15, and gp41 bands."

These associations remained significant when the results were adjusted for age, race, and sex.

Garland et al. suggested several explanations for these findings:

• The weak antibody activity may have been a marker of early immune system damage by HIV.
• High concentrations of HIV proteins in the serum of the rapid progressors may have bound existing antibodies.
• Lack of antibodies to p55, p15, gp41, and/or p31 may be linked to HIV disease progression.

Since the HIV gag gene is more conserved than the env surface gene, these findings provide hope for an effective HIV vaccine.

The corresponding author for this study is Frank C. Garland, Department of Health Sciences and Epidemiology, Naval Health Research Center, P.O. Box 85122, San Diego, California 92186-5122.

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