Infectious virus titer, replicative and syncytium‐inducing capacity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

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Abstract
The relationship was investigated between a viral infectious titer in peripheral blood mononu‐clear cells (PBMC) and plasma on the replicative and syncytium‐inducing capacity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) isolates. The replicative capacity was defined as the minimum time required for p24 antigen to become positive in PBMCs or plasma of HIV‐1 infected individuals, cocultured with PBMCs of healthy donors. Syncytium induction was determined by the MT‐2 cell assay and defined as the presence of giant multinucleated cells. The replicative capacity of HIV‐1 in PBMCs of healthy donors correlated with the infectious viral titer in PBMCs, but not in the plasma of HIV‐1 positive patients. Syn‐cytia formation in MT‐2 cells was not related to the infectious viral titer in PBMCs or plasma of HIV‐1 positive patients. These findings suggest that syncytium formation, not replicative capacity, is an intrinsic HIV‐1 phenotype.