EARLY POSTINFECTION ANTIVIRAL TREATMENT REDUCES VIRAL LOAD AND PREVENTS CD4(-INFECTED MACAQUES() CELL DECLINE IN HIV TYPE 2)

Reports of significant reductions in plasma viral load by anti-HIV dru gs have raised the possibility that antiviral therapy, if initiated su fficiently early, may result in sustained control of infection and pro longed clinical benefits, We evaluated the effects of intervention coi ncident with infection using an antiviral nucleoside, d4T, in Macaca n emestrina infected with a highly pathogenic isolate of HIV-2 (HIV-2(28 7)) Infection with this virus reproducibly results in high viremia and rapid CD4(+) cell depletion, allowing a sensitive measurement of the treatment effect on viral load and clinical outcome, Compared to the c ontrol group, d4T-treated macaques showed significantly newer (2-3 log (10)) plasma-and cell-associated viral load, No CD4(+) cell decline wa s observed in the treatment group while on therapy with d4T whereas CD 4(+) cells of control macaques declined from a preinfection mean of 32 % of PBMCs to below 10%, Notably, when d4T treatment was withdrawn aft er 16 weeks, five of the six macaques continued to control viral load and have maintained normal CD4(+) cell level for more than a year, The se results demonstrate that early antiviral intervention, even of a li mited duration, may constitute an important strategy against lentivira l-induced disease.