HIV IN SEMEN FROM INFECTED SUBJECTS FROM INDIA

描述（由申请人提供）：已经完成了许多研究，以表征HIV-1亚型b感染受试者精液中的HIV-1及其在疾病进展中的作用。然而，迄今为止还没有关于非B型感染者精液中HIV-1特征的研究，尽管有一些迹象表明，C型感染者的血液和精液病毒载量可能高于B型感染者。精液中较高水平的HIV-1 C亚型可能有助于解释该流行病在世界上C亚型最流行的地区迅速蔓延。以C型为主的印度提供了一个极好的机会来表征精液中的hiv -1及其在C型感染者发病机制中的作用。此外，来自印度的HIV-1在遗传和表型上与美国的HIV-1不同。这就提出了一种可能性，即在印度的c型感染者体内不同部位的HIV-1病毒动力学与西方国家的B型感染者不同。因此，我们假设精液中病毒载量在疾病发展中的作用以及HIV-1在精液和血液之间的区隔在c型感染受试者中与B型感染受试者中是不同的。我们的总体目标是确定印度艾滋病毒感染者精液中艾滋病毒-1的特征。我们该项目的具体目标是：1)确定来自印度的艾滋病毒感染者精液和血液中的病毒载量，并将其与疾病的阶段联系起来。从横断面研究人群的全精液和血浆中的HIV-1 RNA水平将通过Nuclisens测定法定量。疾病的分期将通过CD4+T细胞测量和详细的身体检查来确定，包括疾病的持续时间、机会性感染的存在和临床表现。2)比较印度hiv感染者精液和血液中存在的病毒变异。通过检测HIV-1 RNA gp120的C2-V5区域的序列，分别分析存在于精子单核细胞和精液中的病毒变体，并将其与存在于血浆和单个核细胞中的病毒变体进行比较。通过我们在印度的合作研究收集的精液、血浆和单个核细胞样本将用于本项目。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A number of studies have been done to characterize HIV-1 in semen from HIV-1 subtype B-infected subjects and its role in disease progression. However, no studies have been done to date on the characterization of HIV-1 in semen in non-B-infected subjects, although there are some indications that blood and seminal viral load may be higher in subtype C infection compared to subtype B infections. Higher levels of HIV-1 subtype C in semen may help to explain the rapid spread of the epidemic in areas of the world where subtype C is most prevalent. India with predominant type C provides an excellent opportunity to charcaterize the HIV-1in semen and its role in pathogenesis in subtype C-infected subjects. Furthermore, HIV-1 from India are genetically and phenotypically different than those present in US. This raises the possibility that viral dynamics of HIV-1 in various body compartments in subtype C-infected subjects in India are different than those in subtype B infected subjects in western countries. Therefore we hypothesize that the role of viral load in semen in disease development and compartmentalization of HIV-1 between semen and blood will be different in subtype C-infected subjects than subtype B infected subjects. Our overall objective is to characterize HIV-1 in semen in HIV-infected subjects from India. Our specific aims of the project are: 1) To determine viral load in semen and blood from HIV-infected subjects from India and correlate it with the stages of the disease. The levels of HIV-1 RNA in whole semen and blood plasma from a cross-sectional study population will be quantitated by the Nuclisens assay. Stages of the disease will be determined by CD4+T cell measurement and detailed physical examination, including length of illness, presence of opportunistic infections and clinical findings.; 2) To compare viral variants present in semen and blood from HIV-infected subjects from India. Viral variants present in seminal mononuclear cells and seminal fluids will be separately analyzed and compared with those present in blood plasma and mononuclear cells by examining the sequences of the C2-V5 region of gp120 of HIV-1 RNA. Semen and blood plasma and mononuclear cells samples collected through our collaborative study in India will be used in this project.