[HIV infected macrophages isolated from HIV+ patients with undetectable viral load undergoing combined antiretroviral treatment].
A new method of culture of peripheral blood leukocytes (PBMC) from HIV+ patients, in the absence of exogenous stimuli (allogeneic cells or cytokines) (PBMC w/s) was used for the detection of persistent viral infection in HIV patients who had undergone successful highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) lowering their viral burden to undetectable levels (< 50 RNA copies/ml). Infected cells were always of the monocyte/macrophage lineage (M). No infection could be detected in these patients using the classical system (co-culture with HIV-CMP activated with PHA and IL-2). Differences in the class of target cells (higher proportion of proliferating M and CCR5 expressing cells in the PBMC w/s system than in PBMC-PHA cultures) may determine the relative sensitivity of each technique to achieve successful isolation of HIV from different patients.
Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas, Academia Nacional de Medicina, Pacheco de Melo 3081, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina. direccion@iihema.anm.edu.ar
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L
Belmonte
P
P
Baré
M
M
Corti
M M
MM
Bracco
B
B
Ruibal-Ares
D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000379:methods*; D006678:HIV / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication