Abstract
Sera from 51 HTLV-III (human immunodeficiency virus, HIV)-antibody positive subjects consisting of 21 asymptomatic individuals and 15 ARC and 15 AIDS patients were analyzed for their serological profiles toward the viral antigens. One of the asymptomatic subjects only showed a p24 reactivity in the immunoblot, but antibodies to the env antigens were clearly identified by immunoprecipitation of viral antigens (RIP) followed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. RIP patterns of different subjects and even different bleeds from the same subjects showed a varying reactivity to the gag antigens whereas the reactivity towards the env antigens appeared to be generally stable. RIP analysis of sequential sera of virus-infected individuals indicated a pattern consistent with an initial steady rise of antibody reactivities to the gag antigens relative to the reactivities to the envelope antigens. These reactivities reached a plateau and then slowly declined. While all sera tested had antibodies to the envelope antigens gp160, gp120 and gp4l, 86% of the asymptomatic subjects, 67% of the ARC patients and only 33% of the AIDS patients had antibodies to the gag proteins p24 and pr53gag.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AllanJ.S., ColliganJ.F., BarinF., McLaneM.F., SodroskiJ.G., RosenC.A., HaseltineW.A., LeeT.H. and EssexM. (1985): Major glycoprotein antigens that induce antibodies in AIDS patients are encoded by HTLV-III. - Science 228, 1091–1094.
AryaK.S. and GalloR.C. (1986): Three novel genes of human T-lymphotropic virus type III: Immune reactivity of their products with sera from acquired immune deficiency syndrome patients. -Proc. Natl. Acid. Sci. USA 83: 2209–2213.
Barre-SinoussiF., ChermannJ.-C., ReyF., NugeyreM.T., ChamaretS., GruestJ., DauguetC., AxlerBlineF., Brun-VezinetF., RouziouxC., RozenbaumW. and MontagnierL. (1983): Isolation of a T-lymphotropic retrovirus from a patient at risk for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). -Science 220, 868–871.
BlattnerW.A., BiggarR.J., WeissS.H., MelbyeM. and GoedertJ.J. (1985): Epidemiology of human T-lymphotropic virus type III and the risk of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. - Ann. Intern. Med. 103: 665–670.
CurranJ.W., MorganM., HardyA.M., JaffeH.W., DarrowW.W. and DondleW.R. (1985): The epidemiology of AIDS: Current status and future prospects. - Science 229: 1352–1357.
GalloR.C., SalahuddinS.Z., PopovicM., ShearerG.M., KaplanM., HaynesB.F., PalkerT.J., RedfieldR., OleskeJ., SafaiB., WhiteG., ForsterP. and MarkhamP.D. (1984): Frequent detection and isolation of cytopathic retroviruses (HTLV-III) from patients with AIDS and at risk for AIDS. -Science 224, 500–503.
HaverkosH.W., GottliebM.S., KillenJ.Y., EdelmanR. (1985): Classification of HTLV-I11?LAV related diseases. - J. Infect. Dis. 152: 1095.
HoD.D., SarngadharanM.G., ResnickL., VeroneseF-D., RotaR.A. and HirschM.S. (1985): Primary human T-lymphotropic virus type III infection.- Ann. Intern. Med. 103: 880–883.
PopovicM., SarngadharanM.G., ReadE. and GalloR.C. (1984): Detection, isolation, and continuous production of cytopathic retroviruses (HTLV-III) from patients with AIDS and pre-AIDS. - Science 224, 497–500.
RedfieldR.R., WrightD.C., TramontE.C. (1986): Walter-Reed staging classification for HTLV-III-infection. -N. Engl. J. Med. 314: 131–132.
SafaiB., SarngadharanM.G., GroopmanJ.E., ArnettK., PopovicM., SliskiA., SchuepbachJ. and GalloR.C. (1984): Seroepidemiological studies of human T-lymphotropic retrovirus type III in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. - Lancet 1, 1438–1440.
SarngadharanM.G., PopovicM., BruchL., SchuepbachJ. and GalloR.C. (1984): Antibodies reactive with human T-lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV-III) in the serum of patients with AIDS. - Science 224, 506–508.
SteimerK.S., HigginsK.W., PowersM.A., StephansJ.C., GyenesA., George-NascimentoC., LuciwP.A., BarrP.J., HallewellR.A. and Sanchez-PescadorR. (1986): Recombinant polypeptide from the endonuclease region of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome retrovirus polymerase (pol) gene detects serum antibodies in most infected individuals. -J. Virol. 58: 9–16.
TowbinH., StaehelinT. and GordonJ. (1979): Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyaciylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: Procedure and some applications. - Proc. Natl. Acid. Sci. U.S.A. 76: 4350–4353.
VeroneseF.D., CopelandT.D., De VicoA.L., RahmanR., OroszlanS., GalloR.C. and SarngadharanM.G. (1986): Characterization of highly immunogenic p66!p51 as the reverse transcriptase of HTLV-III/LAV. - Science 231, 1289–1291.
Veronese F-D., Copelan d T.D., Oroszlan S., Gallo R.C. and Sarngadharan M.G. ( ): Biochemical and immunological analysis of HTLV-III gag gene products p17 and p24. Submitted.
VeroneseF.D., De VicoA.L., CopelandT.D., OroszlanS., GalloR.C. and SarngadharanM.G. (1985): Characterization of gp41 as the transmembrane protein coded by the HTLV-III /LAV envelope gene. - Science 22S: 1402–1405.
WaldmanA.A. and OleszkoW.R. (1986): Serum screening for anti-I4TLV-III antibodies. III: Confirmatory tests. - Lab. Management 24: 45–51.
WeissS.H., GoedertJ.J., SarngadharanM.G., BodnerA.J. (1985): The AIDS Seroepidemiology Collaborative Working Group, Gallo R.C. and Blattner W.A. Screening test for I-ITLV-III (AIDS agent) antibodies. Specificity, Sensitivity, and Applications. -J. Am. Med. Assoc. 253: 221–225.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Corresponding author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Manca, N., di Marzo Veronese, F., Ho, D.D. et al. Sequential changes in antibody levels to the ENV and GAG Antigens in human immunodeficiency virus infected subjects. Eur J Epidemiol 3, 96–102 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239745
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239745