title: Absence of erythrocyte-associated HIV-1 in vivo.
abstract: A recent study found high levels of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) bound to erythrocytes in HIV-1-infected patients with long-term undetectable plasma HIV-1 loads, potentially representing a novel and important reservoir of HIV-1 infection. To attempt to confirm this finding, we purified erythrocytes from 13 HIV-1-infected patients with long-term undetectable plasma viral load and depleted contaminating CD3(+)CD4(+) lymphocytes using magnetic beads. HIV-1 load of the purified erythrocyte fraction was <20 copies/mL in 11 of 13 patients and 42 and 52 copies/mL in 2 patients. Contrary to the prior report, therefore, erythrocytes do not represent a novel reservoir of HIV-1 infection in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. daniel.fierer@mssm.edu
authors.forename: Daniel Seth
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Fierer
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Niraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Clover
mesh_terms: D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000821:virology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic