An apparent relationship between V1V2 length and stage of illness in HIV-1 subtype B infection is revealed by distinguishing between subjects with chronic stable disease and AIDS. Note that in the reanalysis presented in panel B, only sequences from subjects with a reported AIDS diagnoses have been removed from the chronic disease group. In some instances, subjects with AIDS may nevertheless be included in this group if clinical status was not reported, thereby reducing the apparent difference in mean V1V2 length between subjects.
Figure. V1V2 length data vs stage of illness as presented by Chohan (J Virol. 2005 May;79(10):6528-31)(Panel A), and reexamined by separating subjects with known AIDS diagnosis from subjects with chronic illness (Panel B). The Y-axis shows V1V2 length in amino acids. As in Chohan et al, "Early" indicates subjects sampled < year post infection, and "Other" denotes all sequences from subjects sampled at later timepoints. Mean length values +/- standard error of the mean are shown.