Evidence for Differences in MT2 Cell Tropism According to Genetic Subtypes of HIV-1: Syncytium-Inducing Variants Seem Rare Among Subtype C HIV-1 Viruses

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Abstract
Non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) variants seem to be more readily transmitted than syncytium-inducing (SI) variants, and the switch from NSI to SI during HIV-1 infection seems to be a key determinant to the evolution of AIDS. We investigated eventual differences in the SI capacity on MT-2 cells according to genetic subtypes of HIV-1 and correlated this observations with CD4 counts and duration of HIV infection. In total, 86 patients, most with known date of HIV contamination and infected with different genetic subtypes, have been studied: 11 subtype A, 46 subtype B, 22 subtype C, and 7 subtype E. Multivariate analysis used a Cox's proportional hazards regression. The number and percentage of patients infected with an SI strain were as follows: 3 of 11 (27%) for subtype A, 15 of 46 (33%) for subtype B, 0 of 22 (0%) for subtype C, and 5 of 7 (71%) for subtype E. After adjustment for time after seroconversion and CD4 counts, significantly fewer SI variants were observed in patients infected with subtype C (p p