Highly active antiretroviral treatment initiated early in the course of symptomatic primary HIV-1 infection: Results of the ANRS 053 trial

Highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) was given early to 64 patien ts with symptomatic primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection. At the time of analysis, patients had been followed up for 9-21 months. No patient had died or developed an AIDS-defining event. Survival analysis sh owed that by month 21 the proportion of patients with plasma HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL was 72% (95% confidence interval, 58%-95%) in intention-to-treat analysis. After 18 months of treatment, 50% of the patients with undetectab le plasma HIV-1 RNA also had undetectable HIV-1 RNA in peripheral blood mon onuclear cells (PBMC). Only 1 of 3 patients had undetectable HIV-1 RNA in l ymphoid tissue, while all patients had quantifiable HIV-1 DNA both in PBMC and lymphoid tissue. The median CD4 lymphocyte increase from baseline was 2 30 cells/mu L. These preliminary results support the use of HAART in patien ts with primary HIV-1 infection.