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Maternal Antibodies to HIV‐1 Envelope Domains: No Correlation with HIV‐1 Vertical Transmission in Patients from Argentina
Author(s) -
Sandra A. Calarota,
O Libonatti
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3083.2000.00769.x
Subject(s) - v3 loop , antibody , epitope , gp41 , virology , transmission (telecommunications) , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , biology , amino acid , immunology , genetics , electrical engineering , engineering
The role of the maternal antibody response in relation to vertical human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) transmission was investigated in HIV‐1‐infected mothers from Argentina. Sera from 23 transmitting and 18 nontransmitting HIV‐1‐infected mothers were tested for the presence of antibodies to V3 loop gp120 peptides representing both Argentinian sequences and several well‐characterized viral isolates from different geographic areas. Argentinian sera from transmitting mothers had significantly higher capacity to react with four of 14 V3 loop peptides tested than sera from nontransmitting mothers. Frequency of reactivity against the other peptides did not differ between the two maternal groups. Furthermore, no differences in antibody affinity were found between transmitting and nontransmitting mothers. Sera were also tested against overlapping peptides covering a neutralizing epitope of the HIV‐1 MN gp41 (amino acids 648–677). Statistical analysis indicated that no correlation between anti‐gp41 antibodies and vertical transmission exists. Although we used V3 loop peptides based on local HIV‐1 sequences, our data showed that maternal antibodies to these peptides, as well as to gp41 peptides, are not correlated with protection against HIV‐1 vertical transmission.