Antiretroviral monotherapy in early stage human immunodeficiency virus disease has no detectable effect on virus load in peripheral blood and lymph nodes.
Initiation of antiretroviral monotherapy early in the course of infection with human immunodeficiency virus may result in a temporary slowing in the rate of disease progression; however, little is known about the virologic effects of early therapy. Virus load was measured in peripheral blood and lymph nodes from 16 antiretroviral-naive patients with a mean CD4 T lymphocyte count of 659 cells/microliter at baseline and after 8 weeks of either no treatment or zidovudine therapy. CD4 T lymphocyte counts and all virologic parameters examined remained unchanged regardless of zidovudine treatment status. Histopathology and virus distribution within lymph nodes remained constant between baseline and week 8 in each patient, indicating that the virologic and histologic parameters examined in a single lymph node are representative of a systemic process. Early antiretroviral monotherapy with zidovudine had no effect on virologic parameters in this group of patients with relatively high CD4 T lymphocyte counts and low measures of virus load at baseline.
Cohen
O J
OJ
Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Pantaleo
G
G
Holodniy
M
M
Fox
C H
CH
Orenstein
J M
JM
Schnittman
S
S
Niu
M
M
Graziosi
C
C
Pavlakis
G N
GN
Lalezari
J
J
Bartlett
J A
JA
Steigbigel
R T
RT
Cohn
J
J
Novak
R
R
McMahon
D
D
Bilello
J
J
Fauci
A S
AS
D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV / Q000254:growth & development*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D014779:Virus Replication; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D017931:DNA Primers; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D015215:Zidovudine; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase