title: Timing of intermittent seminal HIV-1 RNA shedding in patients with undetectable plasma viral load under combination antiretroviral therapy.
abstract: It was demonstrated that combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) reduces the HIV-1 viral load (VL) in the blood and the seminal compartment. Some studies have reported that the seminal HIV-1 VL is undetectable in individuals with an undetectable blood plasma viral load (bpVL) under cART. However, some recent studies have demonstrated that seminal HIV-1 RNA may still be detected, and potentially infectious, even in the case of an undetectable bpVL. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the detection rate of a seminal VL and whether shedding could be intermittent over a very short time. From January 2006 to December 2011, 88 HIV-1 infected men, enrolled in an Assisted Reproduction program, provided 306 semen samples, corresponding to 177 frozen sperm samples (two samples delivered at a one-hour interval (n = 129) or one sample (n = 48)). All enrolled men were under cART, with an undetectable bpVL for more than 6 months. HIV-1 RNA was quantified in seminal plasma using a Roche COBAS Ampliprep COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 test. Seminal HIV-1 RNA was detected in 23 samples (7.5%) from 17 patients (19.3%). This detection rate was stable over years. With regards to the freezing of two samples delivered at a one-hour interval, the proportion of discordance between the first and second samples was 9.3% (12/129). Our results confirm the intermittent shedding of HIV-1 in semen. While this finding has been shown by studies examining longer time intervals, to our knowledge, this has never been demonstrated over such a short time interval.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie De la Reproduction, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ferraretto
authors.affiliation: Département d'Epidémiologie et Recherche Clinique, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France; Centre d'Investigation Clinique - Epidémiologie Clinique CIE 801, INSERM, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Candice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Estellat
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Virologie, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France; Université Paris Diderot (VII), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Damond
authors.affiliation: Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Longuet
authors.affiliation: Service de Gynécologie-Obstétrique, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Epelboin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie De la Reproduction, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France; Université Paris Diderot (VII), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Demailly
authors.affiliation: Service de Gynécologie-Obstétrique, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Chadi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yazbeck
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie De la Reproduction, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France; Université Paris Diderot (VII), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Astrid
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Llabador
authors.affiliation: Département d'Epidémiologie et Recherche Clinique, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France; Centre d'Investigation Clinique - Epidémiologie Clinique CIE 801, INSERM, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Blandine
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pasquet
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Diderot (VII), Paris, France; Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Yazdan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yazdanpanah
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Diderot (VII), Paris, France; Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matheron
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie De la Reproduction, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France; Université Paris Diderot (VII), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patrat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D012661:Semen / Q000737:chemistry*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral