EARLY TREATMENT WITH 9-(2-PHOSPHONYLMETHOXYETHYL)ADENINE REDUCES VIRUS BURDENS FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD IN SIV-INFECTED RHESUS MACAQUES

We evaluated the effects of a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, 9-(2-ph osphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine (PMEA), on simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Four macaques wer e given PMEA (20 mg/kg) subcutaneously on days 1 and 2 and inoculated with virus on day 2. Drug treatment was continued for 30 consecutive d ays, after which the virus burdens and course of infection were monito red for a further 6 months, Four control animals that did not receive PMEA all developed high virus burdens and two of the four developed cl inical disease, In contrast, virus burdens remained low in three of th e four macaques treated with PMEA and all four remained healthy, Our r esults show that suppression of virus replication early in infection c an result in reduced virus burdens for a much longer period.