title: Herpes simplex virus type 2 acquisition during recent HIV infection does not influence plasma HIV levels.
abstract: We assessed the effect of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) acquisition on the plasma HIV RNA and CD4 cell levels among individuals with primary HIV infection using a retrospective cohort analysis. We studied 119 adult, antiretroviral-naive, recently HIV-infected men with a negative HSV-2-specific enzyme immunoassay (EIA) result at enrollment. HSV-2 acquisition was determined by seroconversion on HSV-2 EIA, confirmed by Western blot analysis. Ten men acquired HSV-2 infection a median of 1.3 years after HIV infection (HSV-2 incidence rate of 7.4 per 100 person-years of follow-up). The median time of follow-up after acquiring HSV-2 infection was 303 days. All men except 1 were asymptomatic during HSV-2 acquisition, and only 1 HSV-2 seroconverter, who was asymptomatic, had a transient increase in blood HIV load (0.5 log10 copies/mL over 11 days). The HSV-2 incidence rate was high in our cohort of recently HIV-infected individuals; however, HSV-2 acquisition did not significantly change the plasma HIV dynamics and CD4 cell levels.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92103-8681, USA. ecachay@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Edward R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Cachay
authors.forename: Simon D W
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Art F Y
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Looney
authors.forename: Sherry M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rostami
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Pacold
authors.forename: Douglas D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Richman
authors.forename: Susan J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: Davey M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006678:HIV / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral