Title:HIV Compartmentalization: A Review on a Clinically Important Phenomenon
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Author(s): Jason T. Blackard
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Compartment, diversity, reservoir, variability
Abstract: Viral diversity plays an important role in the pathogenesis of HIV disease. However, within an individual, HIV
can vary substantially from one tissue or cell type to another, thereby creating viral compartments. HIV
compartmentalization has been well documented in the brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and genital tract, although there are also
data for viral compartmentalization within the gut, lung, liver, kidney, and breast milk. The precise mechanisms that lead
to the development of HIV compartmentalization have not been adequately examined but likely include differential
immune selection pressures, cell type-specific differences in replication or gene expression, local concentrations of
antiviral drugs and/or drug resistance, and co-infections that alter the cellular microenvironment. Identifying and
characterizing distinct viral sub-populations enhances our overall understanding of HIV pathogenesis and could ultimately
result in the development of novel strategies to impair the ability of these viruses to adapt to and/or infect a given
cell/tissue type.
