A. Lafeuillade et al., CORRELATION BETWEEN SURROGATE MARKERS, VIRAL LOAD, AND DISEASE PROGRESSION IN HIV-1 INFECTION, Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes, 7(10), 1994, pp. 1028-1033
Surrogate markers generally used for observation of patients infected
with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and their plasma and cellular
viral load were assayed in a series of 40 patients before initiation o
f zidovudine therapy. Plasma viremia was positive in 62.5% of patients
and was statistically correlated with clinical stage, CD4(+) T cell c
ount, CD8(+) T cell count, beta(2)-microglobulin level, neopterin leve
l, and immunoglobulin A level. Cellular viremia was positive in 95% of
patients and was correlated with clinical stage, CD4(+) T cell count,
beta(2)-microglobulin, neopterin levels, and disease progression duri
ng the following months. A discordance was found between p24 antigenem
ia, even after acid dissociation of immune complexes, and plasma virem
ia. In fact, p24 antigenemia was correlated with only biological marke
rs of immune activation as beta(2)-microglobulin and neopterin levels.
The measurement of anti-p24 antibodies did not appear discriminative
in our staging. Plasma viremia, like CD4(+) T cell count, reflects the
patient's status at the time of assessment. Cellular viremia could be
more informative for the prediction of future clinical progression.