Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Some individuals control HIV replication without antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.Objective
To analyze viral suppression in young women in rural South Africa enrolled in a trial evaluating a behavioral intervention for HIV prevention.Methods
Plasma samples were obtained from women ages 13-24 (81 infected at enrollment, 164 seroconverters). ARV testing was performed using an assay that detects 20 ARV drugs. Women were classified as viremic controllers if they were virally suppressed for ≥12 months with no ARV drug use.Results
Samples from 216/245 (88.2%) women had no ARV drugs detected at their first HIV-positive visit. Thirty-four (15.7%) of the 216 women had a viral load <2,000 copies/mL. Fifteen of the 34 women were followed for ≥12 months; 12 were virally suppressed with no ARV drugs detected during follow-up. These women were classified as viremic controllers (overall: 12/216 = 5.6%). The median CD4 cell count at the first HIV-positive visit was higher among the 12 controllers than among the 204 women who were not using ARV drugs (759 vs. 549 cells/mm3, p = 0.02). Some women had a viral load <40 copies/mL at a single study visit, but none were classified as elite controllers (viral load <40 copies/mL for ≥12 months with no ARV drug use).Conclusions
In this cohort, 5.6% of women who were not using ARV drugs had sustained viral suppression. This represents a minimum estimate of the frequency of viremic controllers in this cohort, since some women were not followed long enough to meet the criteria for classification.
SUBMITTER: Sivay MV
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6442735 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Sivay Mariya V MV Fogel Jessica M JM Wang Jing J Zhang Yinfeng Y Piwowar-Manning Estelle E Clarke William W Breaud Autumn A Blankson Joel J Hamilton Erica L EL Kahn Kathleen K Selin Amanda A Gomez-Olive F Xavier FX MacPhail Catherine C Hughes James P JP Pettifor Audrey A Eshleman Susan H SH
HIV clinical trials 20181001 5
<h4>Background</h4>Some individuals control HIV replication without antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.<h4>Objective</h4>To analyze viral suppression in young women in rural South Africa enrolled in a trial evaluating a behavioral intervention for HIV prevention.<h4>Methods</h4>Plasma samples were obtained from women ages 13-24 (81 infected at enrollment, 164 seroconverters). ARV testing was performed using an assay that detects 20 ARV drugs. Women were classified as viremic controllers if they were v ...[more]