Will an HLA-B35/58 person produce antibodies against HIV?

Hello doctor,

I have studied that Human Leukocyte antigen (HLA-B35, HLA-B58, and HLA-B7) are responsible for the rapid progression of AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) and often test false negative when tested. However, with C clade virus it is somewhat protective and does not lead to rapid disease progression which has something to do with the CD8 T cell response to a single gag epitope which is only available in the C clade virus. I want to know will an HLA-B35/58 person be infected with C clade virus and produce antibodies to HIV unlike in B clade virus? Also, what causes a false negative in B clade?

Hello doctor, Thank you for the reply,

Is it possible that clade-specific differences in p17-GAG epitope that result in nonimmunogenicity in clade B might also happen in clade C? Have there been cases regarding this? Is a false-negative possible in clade C of HLA B 35, HLA B 58, or any other alleles related to nonimmunogenicity, in 4 ELISA/EIA second-generation tests in a duration of eight years after possible exposure?What else might cause false-negative EIA second-generation test in clade C besides window period, terminal stage AIDS and HAART reconstitution? Thank you so much for your help. Please provide a 100 % accurate answer, and I do not want to doubt the possibility. I do not know where else to ask for help.

Hello doctor,

Thank you for the reply,

My last possible exposure was in 13 years back and ever since that time I have done four HIV 1 ELISA or EIA antibody tests. This tests were second generation tests as they simply looked for HIV 1 specific antibodies in the serum. The last test I took in seven years later second generation again, as the test mentioned antibodies only. Now all this test resulted Negative/Non-reactive. I do not have primary immunodeficiency and I never took any immunosuppressant drugs before any of my tests. But I cannot be at peace for the possibility of HLA B-35/58 discussions that I have found on the internet forums that result in false-negative in patients. What if I have got this HLA and this is making my tests false-negative even in clade C which is prevalent in India. Is there a possibility that this could happen in clade C too? I want to be sure that I do have time, and want to make the best of myself without living in fear every single day.

Hello doctor,

Thank you for the reply,

My question is still not answered. Nature of my possible exposure was vaginal with my former boyfriend who had a loose character. I do not know about his HIV status. But I use to suffer severe migraines, skin rashes, recurrent sore throat, myalgia, weakness (over six months), chronic back ache (over nine years). I was recently diagnosed with spinal stenosis and bulging disc, without secondary spinal stenosis. I have read that spinal pain, spinal stenosis and disc-degeneration problems are common in primary HIV 1 infection. My questions are: Other then clade B, is there any possibility for my test to result false-negative to HIV-1 clade C if I am HLA-B*35,*58, A*02 or any other alleles? Or both B and C clades with these HLAs by far will produce same amount of anti HIV antibodies that might or might not be detected. Please describe. Are there any reported cases of the above? Can long term non-progressors like HLA-27, HLA-57 test false-negative due to minimal virus in their body.

Thank you so much.

Hello doctor, Thank you for the reply,

Sorry to be questing you again, but I just came across a forum that has been bothering me. Can HIV superinfection, CRF (circulating recombinant form), co-infection or dual-infection, drug resistance infection from someone or any type of hybrid HIV virus cause false-negative antibody serology that was done four times during eight years after infection? My Possible exposure was with one person eight years ago who could have had a superinfection and I may have a new recombinant strain or a superinfection that is causing the test to be negative? Is there any possibility? What would be the window period (if) of such viruses to produce antibodies? Doctor from online had recommended a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to someone who tested negative but the person is not sure himself if he was truly hiv infected. Is a PCR necessary for me to rule out such viral strains, as I don't want to go for something that is not really necessary?

Thank you so much.

Hi doctor,

Thank you for the reply,

Just have one last question for you. Can an EIA antibody test (looking for both antibody and antigen but the test mentioning only antibody) after the three months window detect all types of CRFs such as A/E, A/B, C/B, and all other B or non-B subtypes? Are there any subtypes that an EIA antibody test cannot detect? I am extremely worried that some CRF of B subtype or any other CRF that an EIA test cannot pick up is causing my tests to be negative.

Thanks.

Hi doctor,

Thank you for the reply, This is context to my fist question to you, I know i'm panicking a lot over this, but I need to know certain answers to clear out my mind. My question to you was:

I have studied that HLA B-35, B-58, B-07 are responsible for rapid progression to AIDS and often test false negative when tested. However with C clade virus. It is some what protective and does not lead to rapid disease progression which has something to do with CD8 T cell response to a single GAG epitope which is only available in C clade virus. I want to know, Will a HLA B-35/58 person infected with C clade virus produce antibodies to HIV unlike in B clade virus and what causes false negative in B clade. To which your reply was: yes, HLA B35/58 person will be able to produce antibodies against HIV 1. This is true for all clades. The immunogenic response is known to be somewhat greater in clade C, due to higher diversity of immunogenic epitopes on p17 and p24 GAG protein. Clade B is known to be less diverse, leading to lower CD8 response and also due to presence of escape mutant at a higher frequency. A completely negative serology is extremely rare phenomenon. Some clade specific differences in p17-GAG epitope result in nonimmunogenicity in clade B. however, only few case reports of non reactive serology are known and are not often seen. My question is:Clade B is known to be less diverse, leading to lower CD8 response and also due to presence of escape mutant at a higher frequency. A completely negative serology is extremely rare phenomenon. 1) Will these people have rapid progression to AIDS? or is there a possibility that they do not progress to AIDS rapidly but might test negative for HIV in rare cases? I have done both a 4th generation and a western blot test-both the results are negative. 2) Do they look for all subtypes of HIV A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K and the CRF's of the following, can these tests miss out any crf combination between A-K, other than missiong out N and O group which I cannot have?

Hi doctor,

Thank you for the reply,

In C-clade infection, is the immunogenic response always known to be somewhat greater than in B-clade despite being any HLA alleles like HLA-B57/35/07:02? Or certain HLA alleles are responsible for a higher diversity of immunogenic epitopes on p17 and p24 GAG protein in the c clade. Some clade-specific differences in the p17-GAG epitope result in nonimmunogenicity in clade B. Does this type of nonimmunogenicity result in rapid disease progression? Can this nonimmunogenicity result in a complete negative western blot? As it is in my case. This is regarding my last query. Serological testing with presently available kits either has synthetic peptides representing viral protein regions that are difficult to miss or have multiple epitopes, as in western blot, so that antibodies for at least a few are easily detected. Hence missing serology with the prescribed algorithm will make missing nearly impossible so that antibodies for at least a few are easily detected. Did you mean antibodies for a few viruses from A-K or a few antibodies to a single virus are easily detected? Does the HIV virus produce multiple antibodies to a single virus, and that western blot might not yield reactivity to all the antibodies of a virus but at least a few antibodies are always detected?