COMBINATION OF WHOLE-BLOOD CULTURE AND A RAPID AND SENSITIVE CELL ASSAY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE CYTOPATHOGENICITY OF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 ISOLATES

It has been reported that in vitro biological properties of human immu nodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-I) isolates from patients are correlate d with the prognosis of HIV-1 infection. A rapid assay was developed t o study the phenotype of HIV-1 isolates. The P4 cell line is a HIV-1 i nfectible Hela CD4 cell carrying the bacterial LacZ gene under the con trol of the HIV-1 LTR (long terminal repeat). Conventional peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) co-culture and heparinized whole blood (HWB) co-culture with normal PBMCs were used for HIV-1 isolated strai ns from 17 HIV-1-infected patients. The sensitivity of P4 cells was hi gher than that of MT-2 cells for detecting syncytia induced by HIV-1(L AI) (lymphadenopathy-associated virus). Like MT-2 cells, P4 cells enab le the detection of syncytium inducing strains isolated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and HWB cultures. HIV-1 isolates with both culture methods from certain patients induced cytolysis without s yncytium in P4 cells but had no cytopathic effect on MT-2 cells. The e xperiments are in favour of the direct effect of HIV-1 isolates of the se patients in the lysis of P4 cells but its mechanism has not been el ucidated. It was shown that the combination of whole blood culture for HIV-1 isolation and phenotype study with P4 cell assay is rapid and s ensitive and could be used to monitor HIV-1-infected patients. (C) 199 8 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.