ArticlePLoS pathogens2010
HIV-1 transmitting couples have similar viral load set-points in Rakai, Uganda.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 102 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is the virulence of HIV changing? A meta-analysis of trends in prognostic markers of HIV disease progression and transmission.AIDS (London, England) · 2012Pooled it
- Identification of antibody targets associated with lower HIV viral load and viremic control.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Comprehensive profiling of pre-infection antibodies identifies HIV targets associated with viremic control and viral load.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Trial
- Circumcision status at HIV infection is not associated with plasma viral load in men: analysis of specimens from a randomized controlled trial.BMC infectious diseases · 2018Trial
- Partner characteristics predicting HIV-1 set point in sexually acquired HIV-1 among African seroconverters.AIDS research and human retroviruses · 2013Trial
- Role of transmitted Gag CTL polymorphisms in defining replicative capacity and early HIV-1 pathogenesis.PLoS pathogens · 2012Trial
- Phylogenetics and molecular evolution to understand and curb the HIV pandemic.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Attenuation of HIV severity by slightly deleterious mutations can explain the long-term trajectory of virulence evolution.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Initial HIV-1 viral load in French Guiana: Factors associated with viral load set point differences.IJID regions · 2024Article
- Reconciling founder variant multiplicity of HIV-1 infection with the rate of CD4Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024Article
- Why does age at HIV infection correlate with set point viral load? An evolutionary hypothesis.Epidemics · 2022Article
- Phylogenetic estimation of the viral fitness landscape of HIV-1 set-point viral load.Virus evolution · 2022Article
- HIV-1Viruses · 2021Article
- Test-and-treat coverage and HIV virulence evolution among men who have sex with men.Virus evolution · 2021Article
- Natural selection favoring more transmissible HIV detected in United States molecular transmission network.Nature communications · 2019Article
- Article
- Relational concurrency, stages of infection, and the evolution of HIV set point viral load.Virus evolution · 2018Article
- Article
- HLA Class I Downregulation by HIV-1 Variants from Subtype C Transmission Pairs.Journal of virology · 2018Article
- A Practical Guide to Estimating the Heritability of Pathogen Traits.Molecular biology and evolution · 2018Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that HIV-1 viral load set-point is a surrogate measure of HIV-1 viral virulence, and that it may be subject to natural selection in the human host population. A key test of this hypothesis is whether viral load set-points are correlated between transmitting individuals and those acquiring infection. We retrospectively identified 112 heterosexual HIV-discordant couples enrolled in a cohort in Rakai, Uganda, in which HIV transmission was suspected and viral load set-point was established. In addition, sequence data was available to establish transmission by genetic linkage for 57 of these couples. Sex, age, viral subtype, index partner, and self-reported genital ulcer disease status (GUD) were known. Using ANOVA, we estimated the proportion of variance in viral load set-points which was explained by the similarity within couples (the 'couple effect'). Individuals with suspected intra-couple transmission (97 couples) had similar viral load set-points (p = 0.054 single factor model, p = 0.0057 adjusted) and the couple effect explained 16% of variance in viral loads (23% adjusted). The analysis was repeated for a subset of 29 couples with strong genetic support for transmission. The couple effect was the major determinant of viral load set-point (p = 0.067 single factor, and p = 0.036 adjusted) and the size of the effect was 27% (37% adjusted). Individuals within epidemiologically linked couples with genetic support for transmission had similar viral load set-points. The most parsimonious explanation is that this is due to shared characteristics of the transmitted virus, a finding which sheds light on both the role of viral factors in HIV-1 pathogenesis and on the evolution of the virus.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.