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.
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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