Feasibility Assessment of Cerebrospinal Fluid from HIV-1-Infected Children for HIV Proviral DNA and Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1 Alleles

The objective of the study was to assess the feasibility of measuring human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) proviral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and associated single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP1) in pediatric cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The importance of HIV DNA and MCP1 SNP has been suggested to be independently important in progression to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and neurocognitive impairment in adults. In children, measuring both factors in the CSF may help us understand the neuropathogenic process leading to HIV-1-associated encephalopathy (HAE). Repository specimens from 27 perinatally HIV-1-infected children with HAE were assessed for HIV DNA copy by real-time polymerase chain reaction and compared with MCP1 2578G SNP mutations measured by digesting amplified 361 bp fragments. When compared with MCP1 2578G SNP, a significant number with the mutation had high HIV DNA compared with those with wild type ( p