A. Lafeuillade et al., RESIDUAL HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 RNA IN LYMPHOID-TISSUE OF PATIENTS WITH SUSTAINED PLASMA RNA OF LESS-THAN-200 COPIES ML/, The Journal of infectious diseases, 177(1), 1998, pp. 235-238
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA was measured in lymph
node (LN) mononuclear cells of 50 patients with sustained plasma RNA o
f <200 copies/mL with therapy. Six patients had received a combination
of three reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) since primary infect
ion, 11 received this same combination during chronic disease, 21 rece
ived a combination of two RTIs plus a protease inhibitor (PI), and 12
received three RTIs plus a PI. The mean overall duration of therapy wa
s 8.9 +/- 0.5 months (range, 5-24), with no significant difference bet
ween groups, LN HIV-1 RNA levels varied from undetectable to 1.7 milli
on copies/10(6) cells according to cases. The mean LN HIV-1 RNA level
was 2.99 +/- 0.42 log(10) copies/10(6) cells in the 17 patients receiv
ing three RTIs compared with 1.93 +/- 0.25 log(10) copies/10(6) cells
in the 33 patients receiving a PI (t test, P = .02), These data demons
trate that highly active antiretroviral regimens have unequivalent eff
ects on LNs and invite redefinition of suboptimal therapy at this leve
l.