This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Beer, B. E. Articles by Hirsch, V. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Beer, B. E. Articles by Hirsch, V. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, November 2005, p. 14044-14056, Vol. 79, No. 22
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.22.14044-14056.2005

Immunodeficiency in the Absence of High Viral Load in Pig-Tailed Macaques Infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVsun or SIVlhoest

Brigitte E. Beer, Charles R. Brown, Sonya Whitted, Simoy Goldstein, Robert Goeken, Ronald Plishka, Alicia Buckler-White, and Vanessa M. Hirsch^*

Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20852

Received 6 July 2005/ Accepted 17 August 2005

Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is known to result in an asymptomatic infection of its natural African monkey host. However, some SIV strains are capable of inducing AIDS-like symptoms and death upon experimental infection of Asian macaques. To further investigate the virulence of natural SIV isolates from African monkeys, pig-tailed (PT) macaques were inoculated intravenously with either of two recently discovered novel lentiviruses, SIVlhoest and SIVsun. Both viruses were apparently apathogenic in their natural hosts but caused immunodeficiency in PT macaques. Infection was characterized by a progressive loss of CD4⁺ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and lymph nodes, generalized lymphoid depletion, a wasting syndrome, and opportunistic infections, such as Mycobacterium avium or Pneumocystis carinii infections. However, unlike SIVsm/mac infection of macaques, SIVlhoest and SIVsun infections in PT macaques were not accompanied by high viral loads during the chronic disease stage. In addition, no significant correlation between the viral load at set point (12 weeks postinfection) and survival could be found. Five out of eight SIVlhoest-infected and three out of four SIVsun-infected macaques succumbed to AIDS during the first 5 years of infection. Thus, the survival of SIVsun- and SIVlhoest-infected animals was significantly longer than that of SIVagm- or SIVsm-infected macaques. All PT macaques maintained strong SIV antibody responses despite progression to SIV-induced AIDS. The development of immunodeficiency in the face of low viremia suggests that SIVlhoest and SIVsun infections of macaques may model unique aspects of the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus infection in humans.

---

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, NIAID, NIH, Building 4, Room B1-41, 4 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20852. Phone: (301) 496-2976. Fax: (301) 480-4227. E-mail: vhirsch{at}niaid.nih.gov.

Present address: Southern Research Institute, 431 Aviation Way, Frederick, MD 21701.

---

Journal of Virology, November 2005, p. 14044-14056, Vol. 79, No. 22
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.22.14044-14056.2005

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Gautam, R., Gaufin, T., Butler, I., Gautam, A., Barnes, M., Mandell, D., Pattison, M., Tatum, C., Macfarland, J., Monjure, C., Marx, P. A., Pandrea, I., Apetrei, C. (2009). Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVrcm, a Unique CCR2-Tropic Virus, Selectively Depletes Memory CD4+ T Cells in Pigtailed Macaques through Expanded Coreceptor Usage In Vivo. J. Virol. 83: 7894-7908 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Souquiere, S., Onanga, R., Makuwa, M., Pandrea, I., Ngari, P., Rouquet, P., Bourry, O., Kazanji, M., Apetrei, C., Simon, F., Roques, P. (2009). Simian immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (SIV mnd 1 and 2) have different pathogenic potentials in rhesus macaques upon experimental cross-species transmission. J. Gen. Virol. 90: 488-499 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pandrea, I., Apetrei, C., Gordon, S., Barbercheck, J., Dufour, J., Bohm, R., Sumpter, B., Roques, P., Marx, P. A., Hirsch, V. M., Kaur, A., Lackner, A. A., Veazey, R. S., Silvestri, G. (2007). Paucity of CD4+CCR5+ T cells is a typical feature of natural SIV hosts. Blood 109: 1069-1076 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• VandeWoude, S., Apetrei, C. (2006). Going Wild: Lessons from Naturally Occurring T-Lymphotropic Lentiviruses. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 19: 728-762 [Abstract] [Full Text]