Low Proviral Load is Associated with Indeterminate Western Blot Patterns in XXXX Infected Individuals: Could Punctual Mutations be Related?

@entity57358 @entity72496 @entity8928 @entity2662
BACKGROUND: indeterminate @entity8928 ( @entity8928 ) patterns are a major concern for diagnosis of @entity2662 ) infection, even in non-endemic areas. OBJECTIVES: (a) to define the prevalence of indeterminate @entity8928 among different populations from Argentina; (b) to evaluate if low proviral load (PVL) is associated with indeterminate @entity8928 profiles; and (c) to describe mutations in LTR and tax sequence of these cases. RESULTS: Among 2031 samples, 294 were reactive by screening. Of them, 48 (16.3%) were @entity8928 indeterminate and of those 15 (31.3%) were PCR+. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed to 52 @entity2662 + samples, classified as Group 1 (G1): 25 @entity8928 + samples from individuals with pathologies; Group 2 (G2): 18 @entity8928 + samples from asymptomatic carriers (AC); and Group 3 (G3): 9 seroindeterminate samples from AC. Median PVL was 4.78, 2.38, and 0.15 @entity2662 copies/100 PBMCs, respectively; a significant difference (p=0.003) was observed. Age and sex were associated with PVL in G1 and G2, respectively. Mutations in the distal and central regions of @entity57358 of G3 were observed, though not associated with PVL.The @entity72496 mutation of the distal region, previously related to high PVL, was absent in G3 but present in 50% of @entity8928 + samples (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: indeterminateWBresults confirmed later as @entity2662 positive may be associated with low PVL levels. Mutations in LTR and tax are described; their functional relevance remains to be determined.
