Serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from eight patients from the Ivory Coast with positive screening test results for retroviral infections were studied by serology (ELISA, Western blot (WB), synthetic peptide test), cell co-culture, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Two HIV-2 infections with indeterminate interpretation on HIV-1 WB were detected, two were clear dual HIV-1/HIV-2 infections, three were ambiguous mixed HIV-1/HIV-2 infections, and one was a triple retroviral infection by HTLV-I, HIV-1 and HIV-2. Four slow/low HIV-1 strains were isolated at the expense of HTLV-1 and HIV-2 strains. The ELISA tests were found to be very sensitive. Indeterminate WB interpretations were frequent (HTLV-I, four; HIV-1, three; HIV-2, two). PCR provided clear evidence of multiple retroviral infections in three cases and enabled interpretation of indeterminate WB samples in three cases. One sample presented a puzzling pattern with positive PCR results for HIV-1 and HIV-2 associated with negative or indeterminate serological results. Thus, our data emphasise the need to analyse serological as well as virological markers to gain better insight on mixed retroviral infections, especially in endemic areas such as West Africa.
PoieszBJ,
RuscettiFW,
GazdarAF,
BunnPA,
MinnaJD,
GalloRC.
Detection and isolation of type C retrovirus particles from fresh and cultured lymphocytes of a patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA1980; 77:7415–7419
GalloRC,
SalahuddinSZ,
PopovicM et al. Frequent detection and isolation of cytopathic retroviruses (HTLV-III) from patients with AIDS and at risk for AIDS. Science1984; 224:500–503
CardosoEA,
Robert-GuroffM,
FranchiniG et al. Sero-prevalence of HTLV-I in Portugal and evidence of double retrovirus infection of a healthy donor. Int J Cancer1989; 43:195–200
VerdierM,
DenisF,
SangareA et al. Prevalence of antibody to human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) in populations of Ivory Coast, West Africa. J Infect Dis1989; 160:363–370
GnannJW,
McCormickJB,
MitchellS,
NelsonJA,
OldstoneMBA.
Synthetic peptide immunoassay distinguishes HIV type 1 and HIV type 2 infections. Science1987; 237:1346–1349
MyersG,
KorberB,
BerzofskyJA,
SmithRS,
PavlakisGN.
eds Human retroviruses and AIDS: a compilation and analysis of nucleic acid and amino acid sequences. Los Alamos: National Laboratory, Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group T-10; 1991
HahnBH,
ShawGM,
AryaSK,
PopovicM,
GalloRC,
Wong-StaalF.
Molecular cloning and characterization of the HTLV-III virus associated with AIDS. Nature1984; 312:166–169
ZaguryJF,
FranchiniG,
ReitzM et al. Genetic variability between isolates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 2 is comparable to the variability among HIV type I. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA1988; 85:5941–5945
KannerSB,
ParksES,
ScottGB,
ParksWP.
Simultaneous infections with human T cell leukemia virus type I and the human immunodeficiency virus. J Infect Dis1987; 155:617–625
GetchellJP,
HeathJL,
HicksDR,
SporborgC,
MannJM,
McCormickJB.
Detection of human T cell leukemia virus type I and human immunodeficiency virus in cultured lymphocytes of a Zairian man with AIDS. J Infect Dis1987; 155:612–616
RayfieldM,
De CockK,
HeywardW et al. Mixed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in an individual: demonstration of both HIV type 1 and type 2 proviral sequences by using polymerase chain reaction. J Infect Dis1988; 158:1170–1176
DelaporteE,
MonplaisirN,
LouwagieJ et al. Prevalence of HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection in Gabon, Africa: comparison of the serological and PCR results. Int J Cancer1991; 49:373–376
FenyoEM,
Morfeldt-MansonL,
ChiodiF et al. Distinct replicative and cytopathic characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus isolates. J Virol1988; 62:4414–4419
HeneineW,
KhabbazRF,
LaiRB,
KaplanJE.
Sensitive and specific polymerase chain reaction assays for diagnosis of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) and HTLV-II infections in HTLV-I/II-seropositive individuals. J Clin Microbiol1992; 30:1605–1607
AgiusG,
BiggarRJ,
AlexanderSS et al. Human T-lymphotropic virus type I antibody patterns: evidence of difference by age and risk group. J Infect Dis1988; 158:1235–1244
OhtsukiY,
MiyoshiI,
TaguchiH,
TakedaI,
AkagiT.
Immuno-electron microscopic study on the cross-reactivity of antibodies to adult T-cell leukemia-associated antigens in humans and monkey sera. Acta Pathol Jpn1985; 35:863–870
SimonF,
CotM-C,
LesagerC et al. Differentiation between HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection by radioimmunoprecipitation and synthetic peptides in double reactive sera. AIDS1989; 3:401–402
BöttigerB,
KarlssonA,
AndreassonPÅ et al. Envelope cross reactivity between human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 detected by different serological methods: correlation between cross-neutralization and reactivity against the main neutralizing site. J Virol1990; 64:3492–3499