Antigenic variation and serotyping of HIV type 1 from four World Health Organization-sponsored HIV vaccine sites. WHO Network for HIV Isolation and Characterization.

Serologic reactivities of serum or plasma from 55 HIV-1 subjects in four countries--Brazil, Rwanda, Thailand, and Uganda--were examined by V3 peptide immunoassay. Forty-seven (85.5%) of the 55 specimens tested positive to the homologous peptide. A strong correlation between serotype (i.e., pattern of serologic reactivity with a panel of peptides) and genotype was not found. However, the V3 peptide immunoassays may be useful for epidemiologic studies to trace the distinctive HIV-1 strains from different geographic regions of the world. The serology data obtained may be useful for the development of effective V3-based vaccines.