[The analysis of sero-prevalence of virus of hepatitis E among patients with HIV-infection and syphilis.]

The infection with hepatitis E virus is one of causes of liver diseases in patients with secondary immunodeficiency, including HIVinfected ones. The study was carried out concerning analysis of rate of detection of serological markers of infection with hepatitis E virus in samples of blood serums of HIV-infected patients and other group of patients with expressed immuno-suppression - patients with syphilis. The sero-prevalence of hepatitis E virus on IgM-antibodies among HIV-infected patients in Moscow made up to 21.7% and 2.9% correspondingly. In the examined group from the Far-East region the highest sero-prevalence of hepatitis E virus on specific IgE-antibodies (73%) is established in the group of patients infected with HIV subtype B. The most frequently IgG and IgM antibodies to hepatitis E virus were detected in HIV-infected patients at the stage of disease 4B. The examined group of patients with syphilis the sero-prevalence of hepatitis E virus made up to 14.7% that significantly surpasses the given indicator in the group of healthy persons (1.7%). The increasing of the level of sero-postivity is demonstrated in the groups of patients with latent syphilis and on the second stage of disease. Therefore, the highest values of sero-prevalence of hepatitis E virus is observed in the groups of HIV-infected patients and patients with syphilis at late stages of disease. In the Russian Federation, the identification of antibodies to hepatitis E virus in HIV-infected patients depends of the region of residence.

[A study of the HIV-1 regulatory genes using the polymerase chain reaction].

In this work, a total of 200 samples from the HIV-infected individuals were analyzed: 50 samples from the Saha Republic (Yakutia), 50 samples from the Vologda Region (City of Cherepovets), and 100 samples from the Moscow Region (Moscow and Moscow Region). All samples were obtained from the patients who were not undergoing antiretroviral therapy. It was detected that the regulatory genes vif, vpr, vpu, rev, tat, and nef were amplified with moderate sensitivity after one-stage amplification. When those samples were analyzed by the nested PCR the detection ratio was much higher. While studying nef-gene the phenomena of the splicing in cells cores was detected at the advanced stages of the HIV-infection (3 and 4 stages). At the same time, the splicing was not detected at the earlier stages of the HIV-infection. This effect might be the cause of the transition from asymptomatic stage of the infection to the advanced stage. It was also shown for the first time that the variability of the regulatory genes correlated with the virus subtype.

[A problem of the HIV drug resistance].

The wide use of the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) of HIV infection leads to the HIV drug resistance. The simultaneous formation of the resistance to different groups of antiviral drugs compromises the efficacy of HAART. Thus, the problem of the drug resistance becomes of an enormous significance. In this review, a definition of the resistance is given; the problem of the drug-resistant strains transmission is discussed; the assays used for resistance testing are described; recommendations for the antiviral drug-resistance testing are given.

[HIV-1 chemokine receptors and their role in the pathogenesis of AIDS]. / Khemokinovye retseptory VICH-1 i ikh rol' v patogeneze SPIDa.

Data on cellular receptors playing an important role in penetration of HIV into the cell and determining further development of HIV infection are reviewed. Special attention is paid to chemokine receptors CCR5 and CXCR4. The resistance of some humans to HIV-1 infection, probably due to defective CCR5 gene allele, is discussed.

[Quantitative determination of the infective activity of the human immunodeficiency virus by plaque formation using monolayer cultures]. / Kolichestvennoe opredelenie infektsionnoi aktivnosti virusa immunodefitsita cheloveka metodom bliashkoobrazovaniia s ispol'zovaniem monosloinykh kul'tur.

A method for assessment of the infective activity of HIV using plaque formation method with human diploid cells (strains L-65, L-68, L-72) has been developed. This method is not inferior to plaque formation with poly-L-lysine in sensitivity, but superior to it in reproducibility of results and standardization of the test conditions. The method is fit for titration of HIV and virus-neutralizing antibodies, as well as for assessment of the activity of anti-HIV preparations.

[The isolation of HIV from children with the initial signs of an HIV infection and from symptom-free carriers]. / Vydelenie VICh ot detei s nachal'nymi priznakami VICh-infektsii i bessimptomnykh nositelei.

A high rate of HIV carrier state was observed in seropositive children with early symptoms of HIV infection. The virus was also isolated from 2 seropositive adults (mothers) showing no clinical manifestations. The intervals of virus manifestation in culture varied from 6 to 30 days with maximal frequency of detection in the 2nd week. Different modifications of the procedure for HIV isolation were assayed, and it was shown that the efficacy of isolation (shortening of the period of virus detectability and increase in the number of the antigen-containing cells) could be improved by the addition to the culture of the Jurkat-tat III line expressing the product of the tat gene important for virus reproduction.

[The strain features of the HIV-1 circulating in the USSR based on data from a study of its properties in cell cultures]. / O shtammovykh osobennostiakh tsirkuliruiushchego v SSSR VICh-1 po dannym izucheniia ego svoistv v kletochnykh kul'turakh.

Both variants of HIV-1 reported in the literature: slow/low and rapid/high types, were detected among the strains isolated from the subjects examined in 4 foci of HIV-1 infection in the south of the RSFSR and Byelorussia. All the 17 strains isolated in the southern RSFSR foci belonged to the slow/low type and had a low and unstable replication potential in donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells and in MT-4 cell line. All of them were isolated from subjects with asymptomatic infection and from children with initial clinical manifestations of the disease. Only one strain isolated in Byelorussia belonged to the rapid/high type. Its replicative activity was very similar to that of the classical HIV-1--HTLV-IIIB strain. Long-term (up to 7 months) propagation of slow/low strains did not result in any increase of their replicative activity. The capacity to form syncytia was found not only in the rapid/high type strains but also in the majority of slow/low strains under study.