Long-term survivors in Nairobi: complete HIV-1 RNA sequences and immunogenetic associations.
Fang G., Kuiken C., Weiser B., Rowland-Jones S., Plummer F., Chen C-H., Kaul R., Anzala AO., Bwayo J., Kimani J., Philpott SM., Kitchen C., Sinsheimer JS., Gaschen B., Lang D., Shi B., Kemal KS., Rostron T., Brunner C., Beddows S., Sattenau Q., Paxinos E., Oyugi J., Burger H.
To investigate African long-term survivors (LTSs) infected with non-subtype B human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), we obtained full-length HIV-1 RNA sequences and immunogenetic profiles from 6 untreated women enrolled in the Pumwani Sex Worker Cohort in Nairobi, Kenya. There were no discernible sequence changes likely to cause attenuation. CCR2-V64I, an immunogenetic polymorphism linked to LTSs, was detected in 4 women, all of whom carried the HLA B58 allele. Further investigation of 99 HIV-1-infected Nairobi women found an association between CCR2-V64I and HLA B58 (P=.0048). Studying the interaction among immunogenetics, immune responses, and viral sequences from all HIV-1 subtypes may increase our understanding of slow HIV-1 disease progression.