HIV-1 DNA load analysis in peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes from naive and HAART-treated individuals.

摘要

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate HIV-1 DNA load in PBLs and monocytes from both long-term HAART-treated and antiretroviral naive HIV-1 infected patients. METHODS: Cross-sectional quantitative analysis of HIV-1 DNA load was performed in PBLs and monocytes, purified from 34 long-term HAART-treated and 34 naive HIV-1 infected patients, and compared to RNA viral load and CD4+ cell count. RESULTS: HAART-treated patients showed significantly lower levels of viral DNA both in PBLs and monocytes in comparison with naive individuals. Variable levels of HIV-1 DNA amount in monocytes were detected in all naive patients but only in 12 of 34 HAART-treated individuals. PBLs HIV-1 DNA load was inversely correlated to CD4+ cell count in naive and HAART-treated patients whereas no association was detected in monocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term HAART decreased HIV-1 DNA load in PBLs and monocytes demonstrating a valuable inhibitor effect, especially in short-lived reservoirs. In addition, the positive correlation of DNA burden between PBLs and monocytes may suggest a dynamic relation between these reservoirs in the course of disease. HIV-1 DNA load quantitative analysis in PBLs and monocytes may be considered an important approach to study the HIV-1 reservoir and the effectiveness of HAART therapy in HIV-1 seropositive patients.