Abundant HIV-infected cells in blood and tissues are rapidly cleared upon ART initiation during acute HIV infection.

ABSTRACT: The timing and location of the establishment of the viral reservoir during acute HIV infection remain unclear. Using longitudinal blood and tissue samples obtained from HIV-infected individuals at the earliest stage of infection, we demonstrate that frequencies of infected cells reach maximal values in gut-associated lymphoid tissue and lymph nodes as early as Fiebig stage II, before seroconversion. Both tissues displayed higher frequencies of infected cells than blood until Fiebig stage III, after which infected cells were equally distributed in all compartments examined. Initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) at Fiebig stages I to III led to a profound decrease in the frequency of infected cells to nearly undetectable level in all compartments. The rare infected cells that persisted

SUBMITTER: Leyre L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7293182 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature