VIRAL DYNAMICS IN HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 INFECTION

The dynamics of HIV-1 replication in vivo are largely unknown yet they are critical to our understanding of disease pathogenesis. Experiment al drugs that are potent inhibitors of viral replication can be used t o show that the composite lifespan of plasma virus and virus-producing cells is remarkably short (half-life similar to 2 days). Almost compl ete replacement of wild-type virus in plasma by drug-resistant variant s occurs after fourteen days, indicating that HIV-1 viraemia is sustai ned primarily by a dynamic process involving continuous rounds of de n ovo virus infection and replication and rapid cell turnover.