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. 1995 Nov 1;123(9):641-8.
doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-123-9-199511010-00001.

HIV-1 messenger RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells as an early marker of risk for progression to AIDS

K Saksela  1 , C E Stevens, P Rubinstein, P E Taylor, D Baltimore
Affiliations

HIV-1 messenger RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells as an early marker of risk for progression to AIDS

K Saksela et al. Ann Intern Med. .

Abstract

Objective: To establish human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells as a marker of risk for progression to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in a large cohort of HIV-infected persons followed for a prolonged period.

Design: Retrospective testing of cryopreserved, coded specimens.

Setting: Research laboratories at the New York Blood Center and the Rockefeller University.

Patients: 150 homosexual men infected with HIV-1 who did not have an AIDS diagnosis at the time of testing.

Measurements: Multiply spliced and unspliced HIV-1 mRNAs in total peripheral blood mononuclear cell RNA were quantitated using reverse transcriptase-initiated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and compared with other laboratory data and clinical outcome during the subsequent 8 years.

Results: Although HIV-1 mRNA expression generally correlated with immunologic status, it was associated with future disease progression independently of CD4+ cell counts or their rate of decrease at the time of sampling. The association of HIV-1 mRNA with disease progression in persons with CD4+ cell counts higher than the median (> 624 cells/mm3) was particularly noteworthy; further variation in the CD4+ cell counts within this group was not prognostically significant.

Conclusions: The expression of HIV-1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is a strong independent marker for future HIV disease progression, even in persons with normal T-cell subsets.

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Comment in

  • Predicting progression to AIDS.
    Greene WC. Greene WC. Ann Intern Med. 1995 Nov 1;123(9):726-7. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-123-9-199511010-00013. Ann Intern Med. 1995. PMID: 7574230 No abstract available.

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