Treatment during primary HIV infection does not lower viral set point but improves CD4 lymphocytes in an observational cohort

Abstract

Abstract Objective To investigate if early treatment of primary HIV-1 infection (PHI) reduces viral set point and/or increases CD4 lymphocytes. Methods Analysis of two prospective multi-centre PHI cohorts. HIV-1 RNA and CD4 lymphocytes in patients with transient treatment were compared to those in untreated patients. Time to CD4 lymphocyte decrease below 350/μl after treatment stop or seroconversion was calculated using Kaplan-Meier and Cox-PH-regression analyses. Results 156 cases of PHI were included, of which 100 had received transient HAART (median treatment time 9.5 months) and 56 remained untreated. Median viral load (563000 cop/ml vs 240000 cop/ml; p Conclusions Treatment during PHI did not lower viral set point. However, patients treated during seroconversion had an increase in CD4 lymphocytes, whereas untreated patients experienced a decrease in CD4 lymphocytes. Time until reaching CD4 lymphocytes

Keywords

• Primary HIV Infection
• CD4 lymphocytes
• antiretroviral therapy
• HIV
• viral set point