Research Article

Mother to child transmission of HIV-1 in a Thai population: Role of virus characteristics and maternal humoral immune response†

  1. Chonticha Kittinunvorakoon1,2,
  2. Mary Kate Morris2,
  3. Kanchana Neeyapun3,
  4. Bongkoch Jetsawang3,
  5. Gertrude C. Buehring1,*,
  6. Carl V. Hanson2

Article first published online: 24 MAR 2009

DOI: 10.1002/jmv.21465

Issue

Journal of Medical Virology

Journal of Medical Virology

Volume 81, Issue 5, pages 768–778, May 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Kittinunvorakoon, C., Morris, M. K., Neeyapun, K., Jetsawang, B., Buehring, G. C. and Hanson, C. V. (2009), Mother to child transmission of HIV-1 in a Thai population: Role of virus characteristics and maternal humoral immune response. Journal of Medical Virology, 81: 768–778. doi: 10.1002/jmv.21465

Author Information

  1. 1

    Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California

  2. 2

    Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, California

  3. 3

    For the Bangkok Collaborative Perinatal HIV Transmission Study Group, Thailand Ministry of Public Health (MOPH)–United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.-CDC) Collaboration, Bangkok, Thailand

*School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7354.

  1. †

    The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 24 MAR 2009
  2. Article first published online: 24 MAR 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 13 JAN 2009

Funded by

  • Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA.

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Keywords:

  • HIV;
  • mother to child transmission;
  • humoral immune response;
  • replication kinetics

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate factors influencing mother to child transmission of HIV-1 in Thailand, where HIV-1 CRF01_AE, the major subtype in Southeast Asia, predominates. Samples from 84 HIV-1 infected, anti-retroviral treatment-naïve, non-breast feeding mothers, 28 who transmitted HIV-1 to their babies (transmitters) and 56 who did not (non-transmitters), were studied for maternal humoral immune response and virus characteristics. Maternal humoral immune response was measured by lymphocyte phenotyping; neutralizing antibodies to laboratory HIV-1 MN strain and two clinical isolates; peptide binding antibody to gp41 and V3 from strains CRF01_AE, B, and MN; autologous antibodies; and quasispecies diversity. Virus characteristics studied were viral load, co-receptor usage, and viral replication capacity. No significant difference between transmitters and non-transmitters was found for any parameter of maternal humoral immune response. However, viral load and viral replication capacity were significantly higher in transmitters versus non-transmitters and were not correlated with each other. This suggests that viral replication capacity may be a transmission factor independent of viral load, which is already well established as a risk factor for transmission of HIV-1. All except four viral isolates used the CCR5 co-receptor. This is one of few studies of vertical transmission in a population where HIV-1 CRF01_AE predominates. The data suggest that in this population the maternal humoral immune response was not important in preventing transmission at parturition, but that virus characteristics were key factors, and that viral replication capacity may contribute to birth-associated mother to child transmission of HIV-1. J. Med. Virol. 81:768–778, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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