Slow or fast viral load decay as a predictor of residual viremia level in HIV-infected patients undergoing successful first-line cART.

Slow or fast viral load decay as a predictor of residual viremia level in HIV-infected patients undergoing successful first-line cART. New Microbiol. 2017 Oct;40(4):234-241 Authors: Amendola A, Bibbolino G, Navarra A, Pisciotta M, Marsella P, Pinnetti C, Abbate I, Rozera G, Mondi A, Antinori A, Capobianchi MR, Girardi E, Ammassari A Abstract Persistent residual viremia (RV) has been demonstrated in 70-90% of patients under successful cART. We analyzed the RV trend during the first year following cART-induced virological suppression (VS; HIVRNA <50 copies/ml) to identify predictors of achievement and maintenance of ultra-deep RV suppression (URVS; HIV-RNA <5 copies/ml) in 60 naïve patients. These patients were aligned at the time of reaching VS and were longitudinally tested with an ultrasensitive HIV-RNA assay. The influence of demographics, primary/chronic infection, pre-therapy HIV-RNA and CD4, cART regimen and time to reach VS on RV trends was evaluated. During the first year following VS, median RV levels steadily decreased. RV dropped below 5 copies/ml at least once in each patient, but URVS was maintained in 45% of patients. RV rebounded to levels fluctuating around 5-10 copies/ml while in the remaining 55% of patients. Predictors of early achievement and maintenance of stable URVS were fast (<12 weeks) VS achievement after the start of therapy, better pre-treatment viro-immunological conditions (lower viremia and hig...
Source: New Microbiologica - Category: Microbiology Tags: New Microbiol Source Type: research