Efforts to characterize HIV-1 polymorphism and anti-HIV immune response
are being made in areas where anti-HIV/AIDS vaccines are to be employed.
Anti-HIV-1 humoral immune response is being studied in infected individuals
resident in Rio de Janeiro, in distinct cohorts involving recent
seroconvertors, pregnant women or intravenous drug users (IDU). Comparative
analyses of specificity of antibody response towards epitopes important for
anti-HIV-1 immune response indicate quantitative differences between
cohorts, with an exceptionally strong response in IDUs and weakest response
in pregnant women. However, a comparative analysis between pregnant women
cohorts from Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul indicated an even lower
response (with exception of the anti-V3-C clade peptide recognition) for
the southern cohort. Studies analysing the immune function of the humoral
response indicate a quite elevated occurrence of antibodies capable of
neutralizing heterologous primary HIV-1 isolates from Rio de Janeiro.
Attempts to correlate seroreactivity with HIV-1 neutralization with respect
to HIV-1 polymorphism were not very successfull: while the Brazilian B
clade B" variant could be recognized by binding assays, no significant
distinction of HIV-1 clades/variants was observed in viral neutralization
assays.
