Plasma Levels of the Chemokine RANTES in Macaque Monkeys Infected with Pathogenic and Non-Pathogenic SIV/HIV-1 Chimeric Viruses at an Early Stage of Infection

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Plasma levels of the chemokine RANTES were examined in monkeys infected with either a pathogenic simian and human immunodeficiency chimeric virus (SHIV) or a non-pathogenic SHIV to determine whether RANTES levels were related to the pathogenicity of the virus, the plasma viral load, or the kinetics of CD4⁺ T-cells. In the results no significant correlation was found between the RANTES kinetics and changes in the CD4⁺ T-cell numbers nor the plasma viral loads in any of the monkeys, although a transient decrease of the RANTES level was observed in the pathogenic virus-infected monkeys. At least, the plasma RANTES level can not be used as an index of the pathogenicity of the virus at the early stage of infection.