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Comparative Study
. 2003 Jun;77(12):7120-3.
doi: 10.1128/jvi.77.12.7120-7123.2003.

Comparison of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral loads in Kenyan women, men, and infants during primary and early infection

Barbra A Richardson  1 , Dorothy Mbori-Ngacha, Ludo Lavreys, Grace C John-Stewart, Ruth Nduati, Dana D Panteleeff, Sandra Emery, Joan K Kreiss, Julie Overbaugh
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 viral loads in Kenyan women, men, and infants during primary and early infection

Barbra A Richardson et al. J Virol. 2003 Jun.

Abstract

Steady-state levels of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA in plasma reached at approximately 4 months postinfection are highly predictive of disease progression. Several studies have investigated viral levels in adults or infants during primary and early infection. However, no studies have directly compared these groups. We compared differences in peak and set point plasma HIV-1 RNA viral loads among antiretrovirus-naive Kenyan infants and adults for whom the timing of infection was well defined. Peak and set point viral loads were significantly higher in infants than in adults. We did not observe any gender-specific differences in viral set point in either adults or infants. However, infants who acquired HIV-1 in the first 2 months of life, either in utero, intrapartum, or through early breast milk transmission, had significantly higher set point HIV-1 RNA levels than infants who were infected after 2 months of age through late breast milk transmission or adults who were infected through heterosexual transmission.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Peak and set point HIV-1 RNA viral loads for adults versus infants. The mean peak viral load was significantly higher for infants than for adults (6.06 versus 5.07 log10 copies/ml, determined by independent samples t test; P < 0.001). The mean set point viral load was significantly higher for infants than for adults (5.84 versus 4.60 log10 copies/ml, determined by independent samples t test; P < 0.001).
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Set point HIV-1 RNA viral loads in women, men, late-infection infants (≥2 months old), and early-infection infants (<2 months old). There was no significant difference in the viral set points for women and men (determined by independent samples t test; P = 0.4). The mean set point viral load was significantly higher for infants infected early than for women (P < 0.001), men (P < 0.001), and infants infected late (P = 0.03). The mean set point viral load for infants infected late was significantly higher than that observed for adult women (P = 0.01).
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