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Serum samples from 850 individuals from Venezuela were tested for the presence of antibodies to HTLV-III/LAV virus, the probable etiological agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). At the time of the study, none of the individuals tested had symptoms indicative of AIDS or related disorders. Viral antibodies were assayed by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) assay, using a chronically infected, HTLV-III/LAV producer cell line CEM/LAV-NIT established in our laboratory. Twenty individuals (2.5%), 8 of them (40%) female, were seropositive by IF and by confirmatory Western blotting and radioimmunoprecipitation assays. The seropositivity rate ranged from 2.4% (11 of 465) in the general healthy population, 4% (2 of 50) among patients with Chagas' disease, and up to 29.2% (7 of 24) among patients with acute malaria infection. The titers of HTLV-III/LAV antibodies ranged from 1:40 to 1:640. In addition, 2 of 36 patients with hemophilia A (5.5%) also had antibodies to HTLV-III/LAV. Two of 7 patients with acute malaria had specific antibodies both to HTLV-III/LAV and HTLV-I, as determined by IF and Western blotting. None of over 169 randomly chosen, healthy blood donors from seven major Venezuelan cities, as well as none of 99 patients with leukemia/lymphoma, had antibodies to HTLV-III/LAV. The presence of specific antibodies among various Venezuelan populations indicates that HTLV-III/LAV, or a closely related cross-reactive virus, is indigenous in Latin American subjects as was previously indicated for tropical populations of central Africa. Isolation and characterization of this virus will help to understand the origin and etiology of AIDS.
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
July 1986,
Health bulletin,
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
January 1986,
Japanese journal of cancer research : Gann,
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
January 1986,
Medicina clinica,
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
August 1984,
Lancet (London, England),
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
June 1986,
Seminars in adolescent medicine,
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
October 1985,
British medical journal (Clinical research ed.),
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
January 1986,
AIDS research,
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
January 1986,
Terapevticheskii arkhiv,
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
January 1987,
Infection,
D J Volsky, and
L Rodriguez, and
S Dewhurst, and
F Sinangil, and
K Sakai, and
F Merino, and
B Esparza, and
L De Salvo
August 1985,
Schweizerische medizinische Wochenschrift,
