Hide and seek' costly to HIV

In an effort to avoid our immune system, HIV plays a game of hide and seek that at times makes it vulnerable, says a new Australian study.

The finding may provide insights into the treatment of HIV during the early stages of infection.

When HIV enters a new host it includes a form that researchers call escape mutant.

Research published in the PLoS journal Pathogens reveals that while the escape mutant virus may be better at evading our immune system, it is weaker and replicates slower than the wild-type form.

"When HIV infects a new host it needs to adapt to this new environment," says lead author and PhD student Liyen Loh of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at The University of Melbourne.

"The mutations often revert to the original wild-type virus, allowing the virus to regain a fitter state, or the changes may be retained, depending on the individual's immune system.

"This explains why some individuals have better clinical outcomes than others."

The researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney studied the evolution of the virus using macaque monkeys.