Retrospective Observational Study of CSF-Derived HIV-1 Tat and Vpr Amino Acid Sequences in a South African Pediatric Cohort with HIV Subtype C.

ABSTRACT: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infiltrates the central nervous system (CNS) early in infection, leading to HIV-associated neurocognitive impairments, particularly pronounced in children who exhibit neurodevelopmental delay. Viral proteins, including the transactivator of transcription protein (Tat) and viral protein R (Vpr) are pivotal in HIV-1 neuropathogenesis, with their amino acid sequence variation influencing disease progression. Due to the difficulty of collecting cerebrospinal fluid from children, few studies have examined whether key Tat and Vpr neuropathogenic signatures found in blood are also present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with HIV. We employed Sanger sequencing for Tat and Vpr sequence analysis using retrospectively collected CSF samples from a

SUBMITTER: Thirion A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12155176 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature