title: Do scarce targets or T killers control primary HIV infection?
abstract: Early in HIV infection, a million virions per milliliter appear in the blood; yet over the next few weeks, this number drops by two orders-of-magnitude. Symptoms resolve and a quasi-steady-state forms. What halts the viremic outburst? In 1996, Phillips proposed a simple explanation: HIV depletes its target cells. Here, we combine observations of primary disease with mathematical analysis to argue that target-cell scarcity cannot explain the virus's decline, indirectly shoring up the chief alternative theory: control by the immune system.
authors.affiliation: Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, MW-500, 1100 Fairview Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109-1024, U.S.A. wick@scharp.org
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wick
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Self
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Corey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D018448:Models, Immunological; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load