Host Factors Dictate Control of Viral Replication in two HIV-1 Controller/Chronic Progressor Transmission Pairs

Viremic controllers (VC) and elite controllers/suppressors (ES) maintain control over HIV-1 replication. Some studies suggested that control is a result of infection with a defective viral strain while others suggested host immune factors play a key role. Here we document two HIV-1 transmission pairs: one consisting of a patient with progressive disease and an individual who became an ES, and the second consisting of a patient with progressive disease and a VC. In contrast to another ES transmission pair, virus isolated from all patients was fully replication competent. These data suggests that some VC and ES are infected with HIV-1 isolates that replicate vigorously in vitro and are able to cause progressive disease in vivo. These data suggest that host factors play a dominant role in control of HIV-1 infection, thus it may be possible to control fully pathogenic HIV-1 isolates with therapeutic vaccination.