Reply to Lester et al.: Microbial translocation and HIV pathogenesis in Africa
Year: 2009
Type: letter
Abstract: Lester et al. (1) suggest that the data presented in our recent report (2) “are not sufficient to conclude that microbial translocation is not an important contributor to HIV disease in Africa.” The authors support this statement by first claiming that our study did not examine levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in HIV-uninfected subjects. However, this is incorrect because our study examined LPS levels in HIV seroconverters from preinfection (HIV antibody and RNA negative) to either death or long-term nonprogression and found no consistent changes in LPS levels related to HIV infection or HIV disease progression (2). In contrast, Lester et al. (3) observed in a cross-sectional analysis of female commercial sex workers in Kenya slightly increased LPS levels in HIV-positive women when compared to uninfected women. However, it is difficult to directly compare these results with ours because they did not examine their subjects in a longitudinal manner, making it impossible to infer any causal relationship between LPS levels and HIV disease.
Authors: Andrew D. Redd, Thomas C. Quinn
Language: English
Topic: HIV Research and Treatment
Subfield: Virology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2171129737