Reduction of HIV-1 Infectivity and Reverse Transcriptase Activity by High Hydrostatic Pressure Treatment

Abstract

It has been reported that high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment at 400 MPa or higher inactivated a laboratory strain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We investigated the effects of HHP treatment on the infectivity and reverse transcriptase (RT) activity of HIV-1. The sensitivity to HHP treatment differed among the HIV-1 strains. The pressure required for the inactivation of two clinical isolates was over 100 MPa higher than that of the laboratory strain. The RT activity of HIV-1 treated by HHP closely correlated with the decrease in the infectivity of each of the three strains tested. The decrease in the activity of RT may be related to the reducing the infectivity of HIV.