Stimulation of HIV-specific cellular immunity by structured treatment interruption fails to enhance viral control in chronic HIV infection.

ABSTRACT: Potent antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppresses HIV-1 viral replication and results in decreased morbidity and mortality. However, prolonged treatment is associated with drug-induced toxicity, emergence of drug-resistant viral strains, and financial constraints. Structured therapeutic interruptions (STIs) have been proposed as a strategy that could boost HIV-specific immunity, through controlled exposure to autologous virus over limited time periods, and subsequently control viral replication in the absence of ART. Here, we analyzed the impact of repeated STIs on virological and immunological parameters in a large prospective STI study. We show that: (i) the plateau virus load (VL) reached after STIs correlated with pretreatment VL, the amount of viral recrudescence during the treatment int

SUBMITTER: Oxenius A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC129766 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature