Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug 8;22(1):66.
doi: 10.1186/s12929-015-0170-y.

Relevance of retrovirus quantification in cerebrospinal fluid for neurologic diagnosis

Carolina Rosadas  1   2 , Marzia Puccioni-Sohler  3   4   5
Affiliations

Relevance of retrovirus quantification in cerebrospinal fluid for neurologic diagnosis

Carolina Rosadas et al. J Biomed Sci. .

Abstract

Different human retroviruses, such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Human T-cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV), can cause neurologic infection. However, a definitive diagnosis may be hampered by several factors. Quantification of the viral or proviral load in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be helpful in the diagnosis of nervous system disorders due to retroviral infection and may influence the treatment approach. The present work discusses retrovirus infection and neurologic impairment, as well as the usefulness of the determination of the HIV and HTLV proviral or viral load in cerebrospinal fluid in cases of neurologic disorder, in light of recent advances in this field. This study also discusses the different molecular techniques for quantifying the proviral load (real-time quantitative PCR, droplet digital PCR, and semi-nested real-time reverse transcription PCR) that are currently available.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mechanism of HIV-acquired drug resistance with the central nervous system as reservoir. a Initial phase of HIV infection: HIV is replicating in blood and access the CNS. b cART is initiated and controls the viremia. However, depending on the drug regimen, the drug access to the CNS is poor, and HIV can efficiently replicate in this reservoir. As replication occurs, a mutated virus can be formed (compartmentalization). c Mutated HIV enters the bloodstream. The mutated virus is able to replicate more efficiently in the cART poor environment (CNS) and could get into the bloodstream. d The mutant drug-resistant virus replicates efficiently even with cART therapy. In such cases, the medication has to be changed. The higher replication rate in the CNS is associated with the high proviral load in the CNS despite the proviral load in blood and is associated with neurologic abnormalities in HIV-infected patients
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Verdonck K, González E, Van Dooren S, Vandamme A-M, Vanham G, Gotuzzo E. Human T-lymphotropic virus 1: recent knowledge about an ancient infection. Lancet Infect Dis. 2007;7:266–81. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70081-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nagai M, Usuku K, Matsumoto W, Kodama D, Takenouchi N, Moritoyo T, et al. Analysis of HTLV-I proviral load in 202 HAM/TSP patients and 243 asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers: high proviral load strongly predisposes to HAM/TSP. J Neurovirol. 1998;4:586–93. doi: 10.3109/13550289809114225. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Canestri A, Lescure F-X, Jaureguiberry S, Moulignier A, Amiel C, Marcelin AG, et al. Discordance between cerebral spinal fluid and plasma HIV replication in patients with neurological symptoms who are receiving suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Clin Infect Dis. 2010;50:773–8. doi: 10.1086/650538. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rosadas C, Cabral-Castro MJ, Vicente ACP, Peralta JM, Puccioni-Sohler M. Validation of a quantitative real-time PCR assay for HTLV-1 proviral load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. J Virol Methods. 2013;193:536–41. doi: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2013.07.040. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schmid P, Conrad A, Syndulko K, Singer EJ, Handley D, Li X, et al. Quantifying HIV-1 proviral DNA using the polymerase chain reaction on cerebrospinal fluid and blood of seropositive individuals with and without neurologic abnormalities. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 1994;7:777–88. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms