The HIV-1 reservoir in eight patients on long-term suppressive antiretroviral therapy is stable with few genetic changes over time
Abstract
Identifying the source and dynamics of persistent HIV-1 during combinational antiretroviral therapy (cART) is crucial for understanding the barriers to curing HIV infection. Through genetic characterization of HIV-1 DNA in infected cells from peripheral blood and gut-associated lymphoid tissue from patients after long-term suppressive cART, our study reveals that the primary barrier to a cure is a remarkably stable pool of infected memory CD4+ T cells. Through in-depth phylogenetic analyses, we determined that the HIV-1 reservoir in these cells from eight patients is kept stable during long-term cART and, with little evidence of viral replication, this population could be maintained by homeostatic cell proliferation or other processes.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1308313110
- Bibcode:
- 2013PNAS..110E4987J