Short Communication: Acquisition of Additional Nuclear Factor Kappa B Binding Sites in Long Terminal Repeat of Genetically Evolving HIV-1 Subtype C Viral Species in Host with Comorbidities

Abstract

HIV-1 causes millions of deaths around the world. Higher disease progression and mortality are seen in HIV positive individuals with comorbidities. Two of the most pertinent conditions are coinfection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Intravenous Drug abuse. The mechanisms involved, however, still remain unresolved. To elucidate the mechanisms involved, we evaluated the genetic alterations in terms of additional nuclear factor kappa B (NF-jB) sites in the long terminal repeat (LTR) of HIV-1 subtype-C isolates from infected human individuals from North India, supposedly acquired by the emerging viral quasi-species in the infected host in presence of these two comorbid conditions. Interestingly the results indicate higher number of NF-jB sites in the viral isolates from HIV-tuberculosis coinfected (n = 26, 16 isolates with 3 sites and 10 isolates with 2 sites) and intravenous drug users (n = 20, 13 isolates with 3 sites and 7 isolates with 2 sites) compared to the mono-infected hosts (n = 30, 10 isolates with 3 sites, 18 isolates with 2 sites, 2 isolates with 1 site). The biological relevance of these alterations in the NF-jB sites within the HIV-1 LTR with respect to viral replicative capacity and HIV disease progression needs to be studied further.