DIFFERENCE OF VIRUS POPULATIONS IN HIV CARRIERS IN RELATION TO AZT TREATMENT

To analyse the appearance of AZT-resistant HIV in HIV carriers after A ZT treatment and compare the mutations responsible for resistance empl oying cloned HIV DNA derived from provirus and free virions in plasma, serial blood specimens were taken before and after AZT treatment. RNA in virions in plasma, proviral DNA and RNA from virus isolates by coc ulture of PBMCs of HIV carriers and healthy blood donors were cloned a nd sequenced. DNA clones were compared for their nucleotide sequences responsible for AZT resistance. AZT resistance was acquired as early a s 2 months after the start of the treatment and follow-up study was pe rformed for 16 months of the treatment. Population of DNA clones was d ifferent according to the origin of the DNA or RNA, which indicated th at the provirus population in PBMC was different from that in virions in plasma. These data demonstrated the possibility of selective activa tion of provirus or activation of provirus in organs other than periph eral blood, although the number of cases was small.