Title: Extensive HIV-1 intra-host recombination is common in tissues with abnormal histopathology
Authors: Lamers SL, Salemi M, Galligan DC, de Oliveira T, Fogel GB, Granier SC, Zhao L, Brown JN, Morris A, Masliah E, McGrath MS.
Journal: PLoS One,4(3):e5065 (2009)
Abstract
There is evidence that immune-activated macrophages infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are associated with tissue damage and serve as a long-lived viral reservoir during therapy. In this study, we analyzed 780 HIV genetic sequences generated from 53 tissues displaying normal and abnormal histopathology.
We found up to 50% of the sequences from abnormal lymphoid and macrophage rich non-lymphoid tissues were intra-host viral recombinants. The presence of extensive recombination, especially in non-lymphoid tissues, implies that HIV-1 infected macrophages may significantly contribute to the generation of elusive viral genotypes in vivo. Because recombination has been implicated in immune evasion, the acquisition of drug-resistance mutations, and alterations of viral co-receptor usage, any attempt towards the successful eradication of HIV-1 requires therapeutic approaches targeting tissue macrophages.
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Citation: Lamers SL, Salemi M, Galligan DC, de Oliveira T, Fogel GB, Granier SC, Zhao L, Brown JN, Morris A, Masliah E, McGrath MS. Extensive HIV-1 intra-host recombination is common in tissues with abnormal histopathology PLoS One,4(3):e5065 (2009).