Bo Hønge 2018

Hønge, Bo Langhoff. 2018. HIV-1, HIV-2, and HIV-1/2 dual infections in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa: HIV type discrimination and immunological differences. Bandim Health Project, INDEPTH Network, Guinea-Bissau. Health Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Immunology, Aarhus University Hospital. 71 p.  

Whereas HIV-1 has spread globally, HIV-2 is mostly circulating in West Africa. It is not fully understood why the majority of patients infected with HIV-2 have slower disease progression than for those with HIV-1 infection, or whether HIV-2 induced immunodeficiency differs from that caused by HIV-1. Also, it has been hypothesized that HIV-1/2 dually infected individuals have a disease course that is slower than for HIV-1 mono-infection. Differences in HIV diseaseprogression may be associated with certain immunological characteristics. To be able to investigate these potential immunological differences between HIV-1, HIV-2 and HIV-1/2 dual infections, correct HIV typing and optimal handling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are imperative.

In this PhD dissertation consisting of two published papers, and two manuscripts, the specific aims were:

  • To compare two serological assays, INNO-LIA and ImmunoComb, for HIV typing
    capabilities.
  • To evaluate and identify the best method for thawing frozen PBMCs.
  • To compare B and T cell perturbations in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections.
  • To compare viral load and lymphocyte subsets in HIV-1 and HIV-1/2 dual infections.

The main findings were:

  • There was agreement between INNO-LIA and nucleic acid detection, but ImmunoComb produced a high number of HIV-1/2 dual reactive results which could not be confirmed by HIV-1 RNA/DNA detection.
  • Live PBMC recovery depended significantly on temperature and choice of the washing medium, centrifugation force and duration, and the incubation period. Thawing time, way of mixing PBMCs with the washing medium, and the centrifugation temperature did not influence live PBMC recovery.
  • When compared to HIV-1, HIV-2 was associated with lower viral load, higher proportions of CD8+CD28+ T cells, lower proportions of CD8+PD-1+ T cells, and higher proportions of naïve B cells.