We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Latent infection of CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells provides a mechanism for lifelong persistence of HIV-1, even in patients on effective combination therapy.
- Authors
Finzi, Diana; Blankson, Joel; Siliciano, Janet D.; Margolick, Joseph B.; Chadwick, Karen; Pierson, Theodore; Smith, Kendall; Lisziewicz, Julianna; Lori, Franco; Flexner, Charles; Quinn, Thomas C.; Chaisson, Richard E.; Rosenberg, Eric; Walker, Bruce; Gange, Stephen; Gallant, Joel; Siliciano, Robert F.
- Abstract
Combination therapy for HIV-1 infection can reduce plasma virus to undetectable levels, indicating that prolonged treatment might eradicate the infection. However, HIV-1 can persist in a latent form in resting CD4[sup +] T cells. We measured the decay rate of this latent reservoir in 34 treated adults whose plasma virus levels were undetectable. The mean half-life of the latent reservoir was very long (43.9 months). If the latent reservoir consists of only 1 × 10[sup 5] cells, eradication could take as long as 60 years. Thus, latent infection of resting CD4[sup +] T cells provides a mechanism for lifelong persistence of HIV-1, even in patients on effective anti-retroviral therapy.
- Subjects
CD4 antigen; HIV infections
- Publication
Nature Medicine, 1999, Vol 5, Issue 5, p512
- ISSN
1078-8956
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/8394