Impact of short-term combined antiretroviral therapy on brain virus burden in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected and CD8+ lymphocyte-depleted rhesus macaques.

ABSTRACT: Antiretroviral drugs suppress virus burden in the cerebrospinal fluid of HIV-infected individuals; however, the direct effect of antiretrovirals on virus replication in brain parenchyma is poorly understood. We investigated the effect of short-term combined antiretroviral therapy (CART) on brain virus burden in rhesus monkeys using the CD8-depletion model of accelerated simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) encephalitis. Four monkeys received CART (consisting of the nonpenetrating agents PMPA and RCV) for four weeks, beginning 28 days after SIV inoculation. Lower virus burdens were measured by real-time RT-PCR in four of four regions of brain from monkeys that received CART as compared with four SIV-infected, untreated controls; however, the difference was only significant for the frontal co

SUBMITTER: Annamalai L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2913382 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature