Ce. Hart et al., Correlation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA levels in blood andthe female genital tract, J INFEC DIS, 179(4), 1999, pp. 871-882
In this study, the correlations of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV
-1) RNA levels in blood plasma, vaginal secretions, and cervical mucus of 5
2 HIV-l-infected women were determined, The amount of cell-free HIV-1 RNA i
n blood plasma was correlated with that in vaginal secretions (Spearman's r
ank correlation coefficient (r) = 0.64, P < .001), In both blood plasma and
vaginal secretions, the amounts of cell-free and cell-associated HIV-1 RNA
were highly correlated (r = 0.76, P < .01 and r = 0.85, P < .01, respectiv
ely). Cell-free HIV-I RNA levels in blood plasma and vaginal secretions wer
e negatively correlated with CD4(+) T lymphocyte count (r = -0.44, P < .01
and r = -0.40, P < .01, respectively). Similar to the effect observed in bl
ood plasma, initiation of antiretroviral therapy significantly reduced the
amount of HIV-1 RNA in vaginal secretions. These findings suggest that fact
ors that lower blood plasma virus load may also reduce the risk of perinata
l and female-to-male heterosexual transmission by lowering vaginal virus lo
ad.