DBCollHIV: a database system for collaborative HIV analysis in Brazil

We developed a database system for collaborative HIV analysis (DBCollHIV) in Brazil. The main purpose of our DBCollHIV project was to develop an HIV-integrated database system with analytical bioinformatics tools that would support the needs of Brazilian research groups for data storage and sequence analysis. Whenever authorized by the principal investigator, this system also allows the integration of data from different studies and/or the release of the data to the general public. The development of a database that combines sequences associated with clinical/epidemiological data is difficult without the active support of interdisciplinary investigators. A functional database that securely stores data and helps the investigator to manipulate their sequences before publication would be an attractive tool for investigators depositing their data and collaborating with other groups. DBCollHIV allows investigators to manipulate their own datasets, as well as integrating molecular and clinical HIV data, in an innovative fashion.

HIV specific humoral immune response in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Efforts to characterize HIV-1 polymorphism and anti-HIV immune response are being made in areas where anti-HIV/AIDS vaccines are to be employed. Anti-HIV-1 humoral immune response is being studied in infected individuals resident in Rio de Janeiro, in distinct cohorts involving recent seroconvertors, pregnant women or intravenous drug users (IDU). Comparative analysis of specificity of antibody response towards epitopes important for anti-HIV-1 immune response indicate quantitative differences between cohorts, with an exceptionally strong response in IDUs and weakest response in pregnant women. However, a comparative analysis between pregnant women cohorts from Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul indicated an even lower response (with exception of the anti-V3-C clade peptide recognition) for the southern cohort. Studied analysing the immune function of the humoral response indicate a quite elevated occurrence of antibodies capable of neutralizing heterologous primary HIV-1 isolates from Rio de Janeiro. Attempts to correlate seroreactivity with HIV-1 neutralization with respect to HIV-1 polymorphism were not very successfull: while the Brazilian B clade B" variant could be recognized by binding assays, no significant distinction of HIV-1 clades/variants was observed in viral neutralization assays.