Increased in vitro cytopathicity of CC chemokine receptor 5-restricted human immunodeficiency virus type 1 primary isolates correlates with a progressive clinical course of infection

The presence of only non-syncytium-inducing beta-chemokine receptor 5-restricted (R5/NSI) human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in an infected individual has been associated with long-term asymptomatic survival. However, the majority of R5/NSI HIV-1-infected individuals do progress to AIDS. Here, we compared the replicative capacity and cytopathicity of R5/NSI HIV-1 variants that were isolated early and late in the clinical course from 7 long-term asymptomatic individuals and 7 individuals with progressive HIV-1 infection. R5/NSI HIV-1 cytopathicity in vitro directly correlated with in vitro replication. HIV-1 variants obtained early and late during long-term asymptomatic HIV infection from the same individual were equally cytopathic. In contrast, HIV-1 variants obtained during late-stage progressive HIV infection were more cytopathic than viruses obtained early in infection from the same individuals. Our data indicate that the cytopathicity of HIV-1 variants may increase with progression to disease.