Treatment of HIV-1 infection: is it time to hit early again?

摘要

Highly active antiretroviral therapyrn(HAART) for the treatment of HIV-1rninfection has dramatically reduced morbidityrnand mortality [1,2]. Triple combinationrntherapy including a proteaserninhibitor was introduced widely in 1996rnand, since then, numerous studies haverndemonstrated a clear survival benefit ifrnpatients were treated when they hadrnCD4+ T-cell counts of fewer than 200/μl,rnor severe symptoms. At the same time,rnbasic research revealed that the lentivirusrnHIV-1 induces a massive turnover ofrnviral particles and CD4+ target cells [3].rnAvailability of effective therapy andrnknowledge about viral pathogenesis ledrnto the ‘hit-hard and hit-early’ treatmentrnapproach [4].