Persistence of CCR5 usage among primary human immunodeficiency virus isolates of individuals receiving intermittent interleukin-2.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of intermittent interleukin-2 (IL-2) plus combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) on HIV-1 entry co-receptor use. METHODS: Primary HIV-1 isolates were obtained from 54 HIV-1-positive individuals at baseline and after 12 months using co-cultivation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with activated PBMC of HIV-negative healthy donors. HIV-1 co-receptor use was determined on U87-CD4 cells. RESULTS: Fourteen out of the 21 (67%) IL-2-treated individuals harbouring a primary CCR5-dependent (R5) HIV-1 isolate at baseline confirmed an R5 virus isolation after 12 months in contrast to 3 out of 7 (43%) of those receiving cART only. After 12 months, only 1 R5X4 HIV-1 isolate was obtained from 21 cART+IL-2-treated individuals infected with an R5 virus at entry (5%) vs. 2/7 (29%) patients receiving cART alone, as confirmed by a 5-year follow-up on some individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Intermittent IL-2 administration plus cART may prevent evolution towards CXCR4 usage in individuals infected with R5 HIV-1.

Sulfated K5 Escherichia coli polysaccharide derivatives inhibit human immunodeficiency type-1 (HIV-1) infection: candidate microbicides to prevent sexual HIV transmission.

The ideal microbicide must fulfill a number of criteria including a broad and potent activity against transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted agents in the absence of toxicity and inflammation. We have described that derivatives of K5 polysaccharide from Escherichia coli inhibit HIV entry in target cells. K5 derivatives have a structure that resembles that of heparin, but they are devoid of the anticoagulant activity typical of heparin. Moreover, in contrast to heparin, they inhibit a broad spectrum of HIV-1 laboratory-adapted and primary isolates that use either CCR5 or CXCR4 or both coreceptors in terms of their infection and replication in primary CD4+ lymphocytes and monocytes-derived macrophages (MDM). Therefore, these compounds could be developed as candidate microbicides for preventing sexual HIV transmission, a predominant modality of HIV spreading in both the developed and underdeveloped world.