T-helper reactivity to simian immunodeficiency virus gag synthetic peptides in human immunodeficiency virus type 2 infected individuals.

West African populations are infected with divergent strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV2), some of which are closely related to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and it has been postulated that the HIV2 epidemic might have arisen by cross-species spread of SIV into the human population in West Africa. To gain some insight into the possible basis for cross protection between these two closely related viruses, the T-helper responses to 15 synthetic peptides from SIV gag synthetic peptides were investigated in seven HIV2-infected subjects and in seven healthy controls. Significant reactivity to at least one of the synthetic peptides tested was found in all patients and a statistically significant correlation between CD4+ lymphocyte absolute numbers and the number of reacting peptides was observed. A marginal lymphocyte reactivity was found in two of the healthy controls studied. In conclusion, this preliminary evidence that HIV2-infected patients exhibit T-cell responses to SIV gag peptides suggests that both viruses share t-helper epitopes in the gag viral region and raises the possibility of cross protection between SIV and HIV2 which may be relevant for HIV2 vaccine research based on closely related retroviruses.