title: Comparative longitudinal studies of HERV-K and HIV-1 RNA titers in HIV-1-infected patients receiving successful versus unsuccessful highly active antiretroviral therapy.
abstract: The viral kinetics of HERV-K in HIV-1-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is not unknown. HERV-K kinetic modeling may provide insight into factors altering the effectiveness of HAART in suppressing HIV-1 burden. We conducted a longitudinal study measuring the HERV-K RNA titers in four patients with successful HIV-1-suppressive HAART and in six patients undergoing HAART failure. HERV-K titers were usually undetectable in patients with successful HAART, and when detected, HERV-K titers remained below 5000 copies/ml. On the other hand, HERV-K RNA was consistently detected in patients who failed to respond to HAART before and after HIV-1 rebounds (p < 0.001). Elevated HERV-K RNA titers frequently preceded HIV-1 rebounds. These results suggest that HERV-K viral load may predict HIV-1 reactivation. HERV-K RNA testing might be clinically useful in predicting the onset of HIV-1 resistance due to suboptimal antiretroviral drug levels and/or poor adherence to treatment.
authors.affiliation: AIDS Research Program, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, Puerto Rico 00716. rafaelc@med.umich.edu
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Contreras-Galindo
authors.forename: Sharilyn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Almodóvar-Camacho
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: González-Ramírez
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lorenzo
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamura
mesh_terms: D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral