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Biomedical subjects

F Barin

Publications and source records attributed to F Barin.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Antibodies to soluble CD4 in HIV-1-infected individuals.

A direct enzyme immunoassay (EIA) using the recombinant soluble form of CD4 (sCD4) produced in rodent cells as antigen was applied to detect antibodies to CD4 in sera from HIV-1- and HIV-2-infected patients. High titers of antibodies to sCD4 were found in sera from 12.6% of the HIV-1-infected persons included in this study, but not in 120 normal human sera. The reactivity of these antibodies with sCD4 was confirmed by a Western blot analysis. A possible anti-idiotypic origin of those antibodies was thought to be unlikely in view of the lack of inhibition of the binding of the biotin-labeled monoclonal antibody (mAb) anti-Leu3a by sCD4 positive sera. Attempts to correlate the evolution of the disease with the presence or absence of antibodies to sCD4 in a panel of well documented HIV-1-seropositive cases did not reveal any clear correlation. Sera from HIV-2-infected people (nine sera analysed), sera from HIV-1-infected chimpanzees (10 sera analysed) and sera from humans immunized with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing gp160 (10 sera analysed) scored negative for antibodies to sCD4. The possible origin and biological significance of the observed antibodies to sCD4 are discussed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 4 and the human immunodeficiency virus in West Africa.

A new human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV-4) was recently described in healthy people from Senegal. This virus has many properties in common with members of the human T-lymphotropic viruses, particularly the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, the etiologic agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), but does not appear to be associated with immunodeficiency-related disorders. In the present study, serum samples were obtained from 4248 individuals from six West African countries, including Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. These samples, collected during 1985-1987, were from people categorized as healthy control, sexually active risk, and disease populations. All samples were analyzed for reactivity to HTLV-4 and HIV by radioimmunoprecipitation-sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Evidence for HTLV-4 infection was found in five of the six countries. The seroprevalence varied markedly from country to country. Healthy sexually active individuals in the risk category had the highest levels of HTLV-4 infection compared to individuals in the healthy control category and the disease category, the latter including AIDS patients. The seroprevalence of HIV infection in most of these countries was quite low, although tightly associated with the rare cases of AIDS. The biology of HTLV-4 infection thus differs from that of HIV in Central Africa or the United States and Europe. The presence of these viruses and their different pathogenicities in several countries of West Africa indicate the necessity for serologic assays that will distinguish between them. Further studies of their origin and distribution as well as of their biology will be important in advancing our understanding of AIDS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

Prevalence of human T-lymphotropic retroviruses type III (HIV) and type IV in Ivory Coast.

Serological investigations in the Ivory Coast indicate that, despite the rarity of overt acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is widely prevalent. So also is human T-lymphotropic virus type IV (HTLV-IV). The highest rates of HIV and HTLV-IV seropositivity were observed in female prostitutes. These findings suggest that, like HIV, HTLV-IV can be transmitted by heterosexual contact, and that the mobility of prostitutes may be an important factor in spread of the retroviruses in Africa. The incidence of HIV-associated AIDS in the Ivory Coast is likely to rise sharply in the next few years.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

Endemic tropical spastic paraparesis associated with human T-lymphotropic virus type I: a clinical and seroepidemiological study of 25 cases.

Tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) is a common myeloneuropathy with primary and predominant involvement of the pyramidal tract and minimal sensory loss. The epidemic form of TSP is related to toxic nutritional factors, but the endemic form occurs in clusters in tropical areas, especially in India, Africa, the Seychelles, Colombia, and areas of the Caribbean. We describe the clinical and epidemiological features of 25 TSP patients from Martinique (French West Indies) with serum antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). Furthermore, all 11 patients who were seropositive for HTLV-I had specific HTLV-I antibodies in their CSF. All were women. The age of onset varied from 25 to 60 years (mean, 45 years). The main clinical features are spastic paraparesis or paraplegia with spasticity of the upper limbs, minimal sensory loss, and bladder dysfunction. Minimal estimated incidence and prevalence are 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year and 8 per 100,000, respectively. Seventeen percent of the relatives of patients with HTLV-I-associated TSP have HTLV-I antibodies (1 husband and 7 children). In Martinique, the prevalence of HTLV-I antibodies in the general population is about 2% and reaches 10% for neurological disorders other than TSP. Since our initial report, the association between spastic paraparesis and HTLV-I has been confirmed in Jamaica, Colombia, and Japan, suggesting the neurotropism of this lymphotropic human retrovirus.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

A STLV-III related human retrovirus, HTLV-IV: analysis of cross-reactivity with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

A category of viruses has been identified which is related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but is more closely related to a group of simian retroviruses (STLV-III). These viruses named HTLV-IV, LAV-II, or SBL-6669, are prevalent in West-Africa. In this study, we analysed the cross-reactivity at the protein level between HTLV-IV and HIV (HTLV-IIIB). The results indicate that most people infected with HTLV-IV have antibodies that react to the major gag protein of HIV p 24. There is also a high degree of immunologic cross-reactivity between the pol gene products of HIV and HTLV-IV. Among these the endonuclease/integrase is more conserved than the reverse transcriptase. In contrast, the envelope glycoproteins that are the most frequently detected antigens by antibodies from exposed individuals are serotype specific. These data make the env gene products the most interesting antigens for serotype specific diagnosis of human retroviruses infections.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1987

Absence of antibodies to HIV-2/HTLV-4 in six central African nations.

We studied 1508 individuals from Zaire, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, and Cameroon for antibodies to HIV-2/HTLV-4. AIDS, ARC, other disease or tumor patients and healthy people were sampled from 1984-1986. By radioimmunoprecipitation and SDS/PAGE analysis and/or Western blot we failed to find any samples with specific antibodies to HIV-2/HTLV-4 indicative of infection. In contrast, 363 of these 1508 individuals demonstrated antibodies to HIV-1/HTLV-3B by the same serologic assays. HIV-2/HTLV-4 infection appears to be quite rare in Central Africa. AIDS and related syndromes in this study were exclusively correlated with HIV-1 infection. Studies in West Africa have shown high rates of infection with HIV-2/HTLV-4 where cases of AIDS are still relatively uncommon. These results indicate that HIV-2/HTLV-4 has a distinct geographic distribution from that of HIV-1 in Africa. Further studies are necessary to better define the pathogenicity and natural history of this distinct new virus, HIV-2/HTLV-4.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1987

Rapid assessment of relationships among HIV isolates by oligopeptide analyses of external envelope glycoproteins.

The most variable proteins, the gp120's, of the many isolates of HIV-I can be readily compared by two-dimensional oligopeptide maps. The gp120 in a given cell line is completely stable, but the cell line defines the actual gp120 size and may induce minor peptide changes. HTLV-IIIB and LAV differ slightly from each other even when grown in the same cell line, while LAV grown in a B cell line is less related. Molecularly distant isolates have unique patterns. While anti-HTLV-IIIB gp120 antibody neutralized both HTLV-IIIB and LAV, it recognizes only the homologous HTLV-IIIB infected cells in cytotoxicity assays. Structural analysis of isolates should be helpful in defining the range of immunological reactivities among variants as a contribution to a rational approach to a vaccine against AIDS.

Cell Line↗
PubMed1987

Immunogenic nature of a Pol gene product of HTLV-III/LAV.

The present studies were initiated to define the coding region of a 34 kilodalton (kd) protein (p34) frequently observed with antibodies from HTLV-III/LAV-infected people by immunoblotting and radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP) techniques. We have directly mapped this viral protein to the pol gene of HTLV-III/LAV by radiolabeled amino acid sequence analysis. This region at the 3' end of the pol gene is predicted to encode the endonuclease/integrase of the virus. The seroprevalence rate of antibodies to the pol gene products p64 and p53 and to the endonuclease p34 were evaluated. Of 161 HTLV-III/LAV seropositive people tested by immunoblotting procedures, greater than 98% had antibodies which reacted to p64/p53 and 92.6% reacted to p34 indicating that these viral proteins are highly immunogenic in nature. We have also analyzed the serum of nine healthy people living in West Africa who were infected with HTLV-IV, a closely related retrovirus. Nine of nine seropositive people had antibodies that cross-reacted to p34 of HTLV-III/LAV, whereas only seven of nine reacted to p64/p53. These studies and our earlier observations indicate that current diagnostic procedures for screening for HTLV-III/LAV infection may also detect HTLV-IV seropositive individuals, pointing to a need for more specific assay systems.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1986

New human T-lymphotropic retrovirus related to simian T-lymphotropic virus type III (STLV-IIIAGM).

This report describes serologic evidence for a virus similar to that known as simian T-lymphotropic virus type III of African Green monkeys (STLV-IIIAGM) infecting apparently healthy people in Senegal, West Africa, and the isolation of virus from these individuals. Serum samples from selected healthy West African people showed unusual serologic profiles when tested with antigens of HTLV-III/LAV, the etiologic agent of AIDS, and of STLV-IIIAGM. The samples reacted strongly with all of the major viral antigens of STLV-IIIAGM but showed variable or no reactivity with the major viral antigens of HTLV-III/LAV by radioimmunoprecipitation and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A new human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV-IV) isolated from these people was grown in vitro and shown to have retroviral type particles, growth characteristics, and major viral proteins similar to those of the STLV-III and HTLV-III/LAV group of retroviruses. The gp120/160, gp32, p64, p55, p53, p24, and p15 proteins precipitated were the same size as and reactive with STLV-IIIAGM proteins. The serologic data suggest that this virus shares more common epitopes with STLV-IIIAGM than with the prototype HTLV-III/LAV that infects people in the United States and Europe. Further study of this virus and of the origin of the HTLV-III/LAV group of viruses may expand our understanding of the human AIDS virus.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

[Tropical spastic paraparesis in Martinique. High prevalence of anti-HTLV-I antibodies].

Owing to the frequent occurrence in tropical countries of subacute spinal cord diseases of unknown origin, a nosological entity called tropical spastic paraparesis has been individualized. Twenty-two cases have been observed in Martinique. The presence in the serum of antibodies directed against human T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus (HTLV-I) in 15 of these 22 patients suggests that this lymphotropic virus or a related one might also be neurovirulent.

Adult↗