Very few peripheral blood lymphocytes of seropositive individuals are presumably actively infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). During coculture of lymphocytes of a seropositive individual with mitogen-stimulated normal peripheral blood lymphocytes, the number of infected cells becomes amplified such that detectable HIV-1 is produced. We report here that in addition to transmission by extracellular virus, cell-to-cell transmission is responsible for spreading HIV-1 infection from infected to uninfected cells. Azidothymidine and virus-neutralizing antibody had no effect on cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1. Monoclonal antibodies to the CD4 receptor, but not to the CD3 receptor, prevented cell-to-cell transmission, which suggests that CD4 receptor-mediated cell fusion is involved in cell-to-cell transmission. Spread of infection in a cell-to-cell manner may be important in development of drug therapies for HIV-1 infection.
A simple semiquantitative microassay was developed for the measurement of relative number of infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The assay is based on cocultivation of serially diluted PBMC of a seropositive person with phytohemagglutinin-stimulated normal PBMC. The microassay has comparable sensitivity with the standard virus culture method in detecting positive HIV cultures. Since the microassay uses only 2-3 x 10(5) patients' PBMC, the assay is also most suitable for HIV isolation from HIV-infected infants or from AIDS patients with extremely low T-cell counts. The microassay can also be used to measure antiviral effects of a drug on persistent HIV infection in vitro. Because the microassay measures the relative number of infected PBMC, it can be readily used for following the quantitative antiviral effect of a drug in a clinical trial.
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is one of the major health concerns in the world today. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, has been identified in body fluids and excretions from infected individuals. These body fluids and excretions may result in the presence of HIV in raw wastewater. The objective of this research was to determine the survivability of HIV in raw wastewater and wastewater that had been subjected to various degrees of treatment. To accomplish this objective, wastewater samples were collected, inoculated with known concentrations of HIV, and held at room temperature for up to 72 hours before concentration and assay. Results presented in this paper indicate that infectious HIV is fairly stable in wastewater for up to 12 hours but experiences a 2 to 3‐log reduction in infectivity after 48 hours. When compared to poliovirus under similar conditions, HIV survival was significantly less.
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