title: Relationship between the size of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reservoir in peripheral blood CD4+ T cells and CD4+:CD8+ T cell ratios in aviremic HIV-1-infected individuals receiving long-term highly active antiretroviral therapy.
abstract: It has been demonstrated that human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication persists in most infected individuals receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). However, studies addressing the relationship between low levels of ongoing viral replication and immunologic parameters, such as the CD4+:CD8+ T cell ratio, in such individuals have been lacking. Here, a statistically significant inverse correlation is shown between the frequency of CD4+ T cells carrying HIV-1 proviral DNA and the CD4+:CD8+ T cell ratio in infected individuals receiving HAART and in whom plasma viremia had been suppressed below the limit of detection for prolonged periods of time. No correlation was found between the frequency of HIV-1-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTLs) and the CD4+:CD8+ T cell ratios in those individuals. These data suggest that persistent, low-level, ongoing viral replication, although not sufficient to maintain HIV-1-specific CTL responses, may explain, in part, why normalization of the CD4+:CD8+ T cell ratio is not achieved in some infected individuals successfully treated with HAART.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bldg. 10 Room GA32, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. twchun@nih.gov
authors.forename: Tae-Wook
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: J Shawn
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Justement
authors.forename: Punita
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pandya
authors.forename: Claire W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hallahan
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Shuying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ehler
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kovacs
authors.forename: Anthony S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Fauci
mesh_terms: D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral