To examine the genetic and antigenic characteristics of HIV-1 in Indonesia, samples from 19 HIV-positive volunteers were studied. By a combination of PCR typing and DNA sequence analysis, 12 of the 19 volunteers were determined to be infected with HIV-1 clade B and seven with clade E. Six of the seven Indonesian clade E isolates were from volunteers associated with the Indonesian Military during a peacekeeping mission in Cambodia. Infectivity reduction neutralization assays showed that the Indonesian E viruses were effectively neutralized by Thailand clade E HIV-1 antisera but not by U.S. clade B antisera. The Indonesian clade B virus tested was neutralized by U.S. clade B antisera and not by the Thailand E antisera. Using a previously described serologic typing ELISA based on clade B and E V3 peptides, genetic clade was accurately determined in eight of eight sera tested. This is the first report of the genetic and antigenic analysis of HIV-1 isolates from Indonesia. The data indicate that at least two genetic and antigenic HIV-1 clades (clade E and B) circulate in Indonesia.
Despite the well known geographic pattern for heart disease mortality, studies of the decline in ischemic heart disease have not provided a comprehensive examination of its spatial component. In this study, the authors computed and mapped mean rates and per cent change in ischemic heart disease mortality for whites aged 35-74 years, for the period of the Eighth Revision (1968-1978) of the International Classification of Diseases. Visual evidence of clustering and markedly different spatial patterns were found for mean rate and per cent change among the state economic areas of the United States.
Mutant and geographical strains of Culex tritaeniorhynchus were compared for West Nile (WN) virus susceptibility by feeding on a high-titered blood-virus suspension. Eleven strains also were selected from 2-21 generations for an increase and/or a reduction of oral susceptibility using 90% and 10% infective virus doses, respectively. Only one of the 20 strains tested, e ma, was significantly less susceptible than the control strain. In the selection experiments, none of the strains showed a consistent decrease in susceptibility, but the Changa Manga II (CM) strain showed a sustained increase in susceptibility from generations F11-F21 when selection was discontinued. Reciprocal cross-matings and back-crosses were set up between the selected CM strain and two of the morphological mutant strains, e ma and re e ae, carrying homozygous recessive markers. The resulting progeny were tested for susceptibility to WN virus infection and the ability to replicate virus to high-titers after infection. These results suggest that the trait of increased susceptibility is dominant over resistance. The enhanced ability of infected mosquitoes to replicate WN virus showed partial dominance. Both of these traits appear to be polyfactorial, and are apparently associated with more than one chromosome in Cx. tritaeniorhynchus.
Studies in Palawan, Philippines, and Irian Jaya, Indonesia, showed that indeterminate human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) Western blot immunoreactivity is due to cross-reacting anti-Plasmodium falciparum antibodies. To further define this immunoreactivity, mapping studies were conducted using the HTLV-I p19 protein to identify the precise epitope that reacts with these antibodies. Anti-P. falciparum antibody-positive sera from Palawan, Philippines, and Irian Jaya, Indonesia, were studied using overlapping synthetic peptides. Immunoreactivity was localized to residues 108-120 of p19. Further analysis of the sera with 5 biotinylated synthetic peptides showed that the cross-reactive epitope consists of the sequence PDSDPQI (amino acid residues 110-116), which was shown to be homologous to a 7 amino acid sequence on the Exp-1 protein of the P. falciparum blood stage parasite. This is the first study that identifies a specific HTLV-I protein epitope that cross-reacts with malaria antibodies.
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