Humoral immune responses to gag and env proteins from human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in hemophiliac patients

Solid‐phase enzyme immunoassays using recombinant gag and env proteins were developed to study humoral immune responses to HIV infection in a cohort of 105 hemophiliac patients. Thirteen patients with ARC or AIDS and 92 asymptomatic patients were studied. A cross‐sectional study showed a wide range of antibody responses to gag and env proteins; however, the differences between the ARC/AIDS and asymptomatic patients were statistically significant for both antigens (P < .0004). In a longitudinal study, antibody levels in sera from 11 asymptomatic patients with gag antibody log units ≦ 1.5 were compared to levels in sera from 10 ARC/AIDS patients and 8 asymptomatic patients with gag antibody >1.5. These patient groups were followed for comparable periods of time (67.1‐71.7 mo). The asymptomatic patients with low gag antibody and the ARC/AIDS patients showed a similar pattern of antibody response to gag protein overtime. In hemophiliac patients with HIV‐1 infection a low titer of antibody to gag protein is not invariably associated with clinical deterioration and is not a useful serologic marker of impending progression to AIDS.