%0 Journal Article
%T Severe anaemia is not associated with HIV-1 env gene characteristics in Malawian children
%A Job CJ Calis
%A Hellen P Rotteveel
%A Antoinette C van der Kuyl
%A Fokla Zorgdrager
%A David Kachala
%A Micha£żl van Hensbroek
%A Marion Cornelissen
%J BMC Infectious Diseases
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2334-8-26
%X Using peripheral blood nucleic acid isolates of HIV-infected children identified in the previous studied we assessed if variability of the V1-V2-V3 region of HIV and the occurrence of X4 strains were more common in HIV-infected children with (cases, n = 29) and without severe anaemia (controls, n = 30). For 15 cases bone marrow isolates were available to compare against peripheral blood. All children were followed for 18 months after recruitment.Phylogenetic analysis showed that HIV-1 subtype C was present in all but one child. All V1-V2-V3 characteristics tested: V3 charge, V1-V2 length and potential glycosylation sites, were not found to be different between cases and controls. Using a computer model (C-PSSM) four children (7.8%) were identified to have an X4 strain. This prevalence was not different between study groups (p = 1.00). The V3 loop characteristics for bone marrow and peripheral blood isolates in the case group were identical. None of the children identified as having an X4 strain developed a (new) episode of severe anaemia during follow up.The prevalence of X4 strains in these young HIV-1-subtype-C-infected children that were most likely vertically infected and na£żve to anti-retroviral therapy can be considered high compared to previous results from Malawi. It is unlikely that V1-V2-V3 fragment characteristics and HIV co-receptor affinity is an important feature in the development of severe anaemia in Malawian children.Anaemia is the most common haematological complication of HIV in adults and children worldwide [1-3] and is associated with a reduced quality of life and a high morbidity [4]. Inadequate erythropoiesis is generally considered to be the main pathophysiological mechanism of HIV-associated anaemia [1,5,6]. Despite the obvious medical importance of anaemia the aetiology of this erythropoietic failure is still not well understood. Several possible pathways have been investigated including opportunistic infections, micronutrient deficiencies
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/8/26