SERUM LEVELS OF MIP-1β AND RANTES IN HIV-1 SUBTYPE CRF01_AE INFECTED PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT RATES OF DISEASE PROGRESSION

The β-chemokines have been shown to inhibit HIV replication in vitro. To evaluate the role of serum β-chemokines in disease progression and their anti-viral role in vivo, we deter- mined serum levels of macrophage inflammatory protein-1β (MIP-1β) and regulated upon ac- tivation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) of twenty HIV-1 subtype CRF01_AE infected patients: nine progressors (PRs, follow-up CD4+ cell count 350/mm 3 at the end of follow-up) and determined their plasma viral loads. The subjects were followed for at least 36 months. All had initial CD4 values >350 cells/mm 3 . In this longitudinal study, serum levels of MIP-1β and RANTES in specimens obtained either early or later in the course of HIV infection did not differ significantly between progressors and slower progressors (p > 0.05). There were no significant changes in serum MIP-1β and RANTES levels over time in either patient group (p>0.05). No significant associations were observed between plasma viral loads and the measured β-chemokines (r = -0.205, p = 0.21 for MIP-1β and r = -0.12, p = 0.492 for RANTES). The results suggest these chemokines do not play a major systemic role in control of viremia or protection against the progression of HIV disease.