Maximenok O. Phenomenon of antigenic mimicry of HIV-1 and bacteria and prognostic markers of HIV-infection course

The thesis deals with the study of the antigenic mimicry role of HIV-1 peptides and carbohydrate-containing bacterial biopolymers in the HIV-infection pathogenesis; the author has also studied the possibilities to use some laboratory data as surrogate markers of infection course prediction. The author shows that some microorganisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, Neisseria meningitidis and Bacillus subtilis, produce carbohydrate-containing biopolymers mimicrins possessing antigenic similarity between themselves as well as with HIV-1 peptide p17. These compounds inhibit the HIV-1 reproduction by 5.0 lg ID50 in chronically infected cell cultures and by 2.0-3.0 lg ID50 in acutely infected cells. The possibility of antigenic mimicry effect on the HIV-1 reproduction has been investigated using models of mixed HIV-1 infections with influenza, Epstein-Barr, and herpes simplex type 1 viruses. Depending on the degree of antigen similarity, HIV-1 development suppression (with influenza and Epstein-Barr viruses) or HIV-1 reproduction increase (with herpes simplex 1 virus) is observed. The detection of antibody combination "gag(+/±)+pol(+/±)" in patients' sera is a favorable prognostic factor predicting slow process development, another combination -"gag(-)+pol(+/±/-)" being a marker of increased disease course. In HIV-infected patients without immunodeficiency peripheral blood mononuclear cells produce RANTES and IFN - following their stimulation by the HIV-1 GAG antigen.