Microbiology Department, School of Medicine, National Reference Center for AIDS, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
PLoS One. 2011 Jan 18;6(1):e14544. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014544.
HIV adherence to erythrocytes has been demonstrated in vitro, and it has been suggested that erythrocytes may be carriers of the virus. However, the association between HIV particles or viral proteins and erythrocytes in HIV-infected individuals is still to be elucidated.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: HIV-positive participants (n =112) were classified into two groups according to values of three plasma viral loads (pVL) determined during the 12-month period prior to the study. The first group included 71 individuals with detectable pVL, whereas the second group included 41 individuals with undetectable pVL. Plasma viral load, erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen and p24-antigen in plasma were determined at the moment of the study. A total of 51 out of the 71 patients with detectable pVL showed erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen whereas 13 showed p24-antigen in plasma. Twenty-two out of the 51 patients with erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen showed pVL<10,000 copies/ml and undetectable p24-antigen in plasma. The data indicates that the amount of erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen was not related to p24-antigen in plasma or pVL levels in this group. Among the 41 patients with prior undetectable pVL, eight presented detectable pVL and erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen at the moment of the study. The other 33 showed undetectable pVL and five of these presented erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen. A positive relationship was found between the presence of erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen and the detectable pVL at the moment of the study (p<0.00001). Even more, in another series of assays, a detectable viral load associated to erythrocytes was determined and it was always accompanied by erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen detection.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates the presence of erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen in HIV-infected individuals. Since erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen is not always related to pVL or p24-antigen in plasma, erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen showed viral expression not represented in plasma. Therefore, the determination of erythrocyte-associated p24-antigen may contribute to better understand the kinetics and/or evolution of HIV infection.
HIV 在体外已被证实能附着于红细胞，并且有研究提示红细胞可能是病毒的载体。然而，HIV 感染者体内 HIV 颗粒或病毒蛋白与红细胞的关联仍有待阐明。
方法/主要发现：根据研究前 12 个月内确定的 3 次血浆病毒载量（pVL）值，将 112 名 HIV 阳性参与者分为两组。第一组包括 71 名可检测到 pVL 的个体，而第二组包括 41 名不可检测到 pVL 的个体。在研究时，测定了血浆病毒载量、红细胞相关 p24 抗原和血浆中的 p24 抗原。在 71 名可检测到 pVL 的患者中，共有 51 名患者表现出红细胞相关 p24 抗原，而 13 名患者表现出血浆中的 p24 抗原。在 51 名具有红细胞相关 p24 抗原的患者中，有 22 名患者的 pVL<10,000 拷贝/ml 且血浆中不可检测到 p24 抗原。数据表明，红细胞相关 p24 抗原的量与该组中血浆中的 p24 抗原或 pVL 水平无关。在之前不可检测到 pVL 的 41 名患者中，有 8 名患者在研究时表现出可检测到的 pVL 和红细胞相关 p24 抗原。其他 33 名患者表现出不可检测到的 pVL，其中 5 名患者表现出红细胞相关 p24 抗原。研究时，红细胞相关 p24 抗原的存在与可检测到的 pVL 之间存在正相关（p<0.00001）。此外，在另一系列检测中，确定了与红细胞相关的可检测病毒载量，并且总是伴随着红细胞相关 p24 抗原的检测。
结论/意义：本研究证明了 HIV 感染个体中存在红细胞相关 p24 抗原。由于红细胞相关 p24 抗原并不总是与血浆中的 pVL 或 p24 抗原相关，红细胞相关 p24 抗原显示了未在血浆中表现出的病毒表达。因此，红细胞相关 p24 抗原的测定可能有助于更好地理解 HIV 感染的动力学和/或演变。
