title: Quantitative molecular monitoring of HIV-1 RNA during antiretroviral therapy.
abstract: Plasma HIV-1 RNA testing was used to monitor 43 HIV-1 infected patients newly placed on antiretroviral therapy or whose therapy had been recently changed. A polymerase chain reaction kit was used to measure HIV-1 RNA in clinical samples or frozen plasma. The cutoff of this test was 200 RNA copies/ml. The first group (11 patients) was stable on long-term zidovudine monotherapy when switched to stavudine. The HIV-1 RNA of three patients who had a regular decline in CD4+ T cell count did not change despite this switch, with a mean follow-up of 630 days. The HIV-1 RNA copy numbers of eight patients whose CD4+ T cell counts were stable declined an average of 0.53 log10 between days 90 and 650. The second group (14 patients) was on long-term zidovudine monotherapy and had declining CD4+ T cell counts over the past 6 months. Lamivudine was added to this regimen on day 0. HIV-1 RNA copy number decreased rapidly within 30 d, reaching -0.86 log10 on day 90, and this effect was maintained thereafter, with a mean follow-up of 161 days. There was a concomitant mean gain of +33 CD4+ T cells on day 90. The third group (nine patients) had never received anti-retroviral therapy and was given zidovudine+didanosine. HIV-1 RNA copy number decreased in all cases but one, reaching -1.31 log10 on day 150. This decrease was transient in three cases. The last group (nine patients) had also not had previous anti-retroviral therapy and was given zidovudine + didanosine + lamivudine in combination. HIV-1 RNA copy numbers declined rapidly in all cases, to below the cutoff in eight cases within a mean period of 50.5 days. The CD4+ cell counts increased by 164 cells/microliter on day 14 and by 201 cells/microliter on day 180. The response to therapy of the total population of 43 patients varied according to cases. The relative changes in p24 antigen compared to HIV-1 RNA also differed between patients. Measurement of HIV-1 viremia appears to be a valuable tool in current practice for individualizing therapy.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Infectious Diseases, Hôpital Chalucet, Toulon, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lafeuillade
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poggi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pellegrino
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Profizi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D012367:RNA, Viral; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase