Impact of Treatment Interruption on HIV Reservoirs and Lymphocyte Subsets in Individuals Who Initiated Antiretroviral Therapy During the Early Phase of Infection

Abstract

Therapeutic strategies for achieving sustained virologic remission are being explored in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals who began antiretroviral therapy (ART) during the early phase of infection. In the evaluation of such therapies, clinical protocols should include analytical treatment interruption (ATI); however, the immunologic and virologic impact of ATI in individuals who initiated ART early has not been fully delineated. We demonstrate that ATI causes neither expansion of HIV reservoirs nor immunologic abnormalities following reinitiation of ART. Our findings support the use of ATI to determine whether sustained virologic remission has been achieved in clinical trials of individuals who initiated ART early during HIV infection.

Keywords: HIV reservoirs; acute/early HIV infection; analytical treatment interruption; antiretroviral therapy.