Understanding Why Infection With HIV-2 Is Not As Bad As HIV-1

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Understanding Why Infection With HIV-2 Is Not As Bad As HIV-1

ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2007) — There are two distinct, but related, HIV viruses

that humans can become infected with -- HIV-1 and HIV-2. Individuals infected

with HIV-2 progress to AIDS at a dramatically reduced rate compared with

individuals infected with HIV-1; in fact, most individuals infected with HIV-2

die of unrelated causes.

It is hoped that understanding why individuals infected with HIV-2 rarely

progress to AIDS will help with the design of therapeutics and vaccine

strategies for the treatment and prevention, respectively, of infection with

HIV-1.

A new study by Aleksandra Leligdowicz and colleagues at the Weatherall Institute

of Molecular Medicine, Oxford, demonstrates that individuals infected with HIV-2

mount a strong immune response to a specific region of the viral protein Gag.

The robustness of this response was inversely correlated with the amount of

virus detected in the individual. In turn, individuals with high levels of

detectable virus had fewer CD4+ T cells, indicating that they were progressing

towards AIDS. The authors therefore suggest that T cell responses to Gag are

important in determining the better outcome of infection with HIV-2 than

infection with HIV-1.

Article: Robust Gag-specific T cell responses characterize viremia control in

HIV-2 infection, Journal of Clinical Investigation

Adapted from materials provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation, via

EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Journal of Clinical Investigation (2007, September 11). Understanding Why

Infection With HIV-2 Is Not As Bad As HIV-1. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 9,

2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/09/070907105907.htm