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. 1999 May;5(5):512-7.
doi: 10.1038/8394.

Latent infection of CD4+ T cells provides a mechanism for lifelong persistence of HIV-1, even in patients on effective combination therapy

D Finzi  1 , J Blankson, J D Siliciano, J B Margolick, K Chadwick, T Pierson, K Smith, J Lisziewicz, F Lori, C Flexner, T C Quinn, R E Chaisson, E Rosenberg, B Walker, S Gange, J Gallant, R F Siliciano
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Latent infection of CD4+ T cells provides a mechanism for lifelong persistence of HIV-1, even in patients on effective combination therapy

D Finzi et al. Nat Med. 1999 May.

Abstract

Combination therapy for HIV-1 infection can reduce plasma virus to undetectable levels, indicating that prolonged treatment might eradicate the infection. However, HIV-1 can persist in a latent form in resting CD4+ T cells. We measured the decay rate of this latent reservoir in 34 treated adults whose plasma virus levels were undetectable. The mean half-life of the latent reservoir was very long (43.9 months). If the latent reservoir consists of only 1 x 10(5) cells, eradication could take as long as 60 years. Thus, latent infection of resting CD4+ T cells provides a mechanism for lifelong persistence of HIV-1, even in patients on effective anti-retroviral therapy.

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