In a subset of subjects on highly active antiretroviral therapy, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA in plasma decays from 50 to <5 copies per milliliter, with a half-life of 6 months.
Three of five virally suppressed human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1)-infected patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy and followed intensively with a supersensitive reverse transcriptase PCR assay with a lower limit of quantitation of 5 copies/ml showed statistically significant viral load decays below 50 copies/ml, with half-lives of 5 to 8 months and a mean of 6 months. This range of half-lives is consistent with the estimated half-life of the latent HIV-1 reservoir in the peripheral blood. Those patients without decay of viral load in plasma may have significant cryptic HIV-1 residual replication.
Di Mascio
Michele
M
Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
Dornadula
Geethanjali
G
Zhang
Hui
H
Sullivan
Julie
J
Xu
Yan
Y
Kulkosky
Joseph
J
Pomerantz
Roger J
RJ
Perelson
Alan S
AS
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects*; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019562:Viral Load
D012367:RNA, Viral