title: The impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy on HIV-specific immune function.
abstract: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can suppress HIV type 1 plasma viremia to undetectable levels for up to 3 years or more. When the therapy is discontinued, viral rebound occurs in a majority of patients, indicating that HAART is unable to completely eradicate the virus. Initial calculations of the half-lives of the infected cells (estimated to be 14-21 days) suggested that only 3 years continuous HAART therapy would be necessary to achieve complete eradication; however, several studies have determined that the half-lives of chronically infected cells are in the order of 6-44 months. New estimates indicate that it may take as long as 60 years to eradicate the virus. Thus, there has been movement toward combining HAART with various means of augmenting and/or reconstituting the host's immune system, especially HIV-1-specific immune responses. The long-term goal is to discontinue HAART and permit the reconstituted immune system to contain whatever small amounts of the virus remain.
authors: AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-2050, USA. msaag@uab.edu
authors: M S
authors: MS
authors: Saag
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000379:methods*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D014766:Viremia / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents