It is widely accepted that most infants infected with HIV become infected at the time of birth, by mucosal exposure to HIV-infected maternal secretions. We are developing a macaque model of pediatric AIDS by oral inoculation of neonates with HIV-2287, a highly pathogenic isolate in use at the WaRPRC. Four pigtailed macaques have been assigned to this study. Initially, two neonates were given an oral dose containing 1,000 TCID of HIV-2287, a dose that has been shown to be consistently infectious in Macaca nemestrina across vaginal and rectal mucosa. Neither macaque became infected at that time; however when re-challenged with 1,000 TCID rectally or 10,000 TCID orally, both macaques became infected and developed CD4+ cell depletion and other signs of AIDS. One neonate was inoculated with 10,000 TCID; this animal developed AIDS and was euthanatized within two weeks. One juvenile macaque (1.5 years) also was inoculated with 10,000 TCID; this animal became persistently infected, although no other signs of disease are present. These very preliminary results show that a model of pediatric AIDS can be designed with HIV-2287 in pigtailed macaques, and that the dose required for infection and pathogenesis is higher than is necessary for infection across other mucosal barriers.
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