HIV/AIDS Transmission: Seminal interleukin-1 beta amount positively correlates with HIV-1 load in semen

AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, September 4, 2006
Staff Medical Writers

According to a study from France, "Cytokines present in the sperm could influence the heterosexual transmission of HIV by modulating viral titers and influencing the early immune response in the vaginal mucosa.

"To assess the relation between cytokine concentrations and HIV status in the seminal" plasma, 25 "HIV positive subjects were tested for cytokine content and HIV-1 load in seminal and blood plasma through a cross-sectional study."

"HIV positive subjects exhibited a significantly higher amount of seminal ILAP as compared to a group of 33 HIV negative controls," W. Berlier and colleagues at the Groupe Immunite des Muqueuses et Agents Pathogenes in Saint-Etienne reported.

"In HIV positive subjects, amounts of IL-1 beta and HIV-1 RNA in semen were significantly correlated and a trend for correlation was found between seminal IL-1 beta and blood HIV-1 RNA.

"Amount of seminal IL-1 beta was significantly lower in patients under HAART, according to the decrease of their viral loads in blood and semen," continued the authors.

"Considering that IL-1 beta is known to enhance viral replication and to promote immune response," Berlier concluded, "its dosage in semen could represent an interesting marker for identifying patients at high risk for HIV heterosexual transmission."

Berlier and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Clinical Virology (Amount of seminal IL-1 beta positively correlates to HIV-1 load in the semen of infected patients. J Clin Virol. 2006 Jul;36(3):204-7).

For more information, contact B. Pozzetto, Faculty of Medicine Jacques Lisfranc, GIMAP, F-42023 St. Etienne 02, France.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Clinical Virology is: Elsevier Science BV, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Keywords: St. Etienne, France, HIV/AIDS, Semen, Interleukin-1 Beta, Viral Load, Viral Transmission.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference

Berlier W, Bourlet T, Levy R, et al., “Amount of seminal IL-1beta positively correlates to HIV-1 load in the semen of infected patients”, J Clin Virol. 2006 Jul;36(3):204-7.

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