Assuntos
Fármacos Anti-HIV/farmacologia , Terapia Antirretroviral de Alta Atividade , Regulação da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções por HIV/genética , Interleucina-10/genética , Interleucina-12/genética , Fármacos Anti-HIV/uso terapêutico , Infecções por HIV/imunologia , HIV-1/efeitos dos fármacos , HIV-1/imunologia , Humanos , RNA Mensageiro/genética , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Carga ViralRESUMO
The existence of a reservoir of resting CD4+ T cells harboring latent replication-competent HIV has been demonstrated in patients on prolonged highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Latently infected tissue macrophages may constitute a second HIV reservoir. The pool of these cells may be maintained by incoming infected monocytes from blood and/or by in situ viral replication. In this study, the presence of infectious HIV was investigated in highly purified monocytes from 5 patients receiving HAART with undetectable plasma viral load for up to 16 months. HIV was detected in freshly isolated monocytes and recovered following Staphylococcus aureus Cowan strain 1 (SAC) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activation. No new drug resistance-associated mutation was found in monocyte-associated HIV. These results demonstrate the long-term persistence of infectious virus in cells of the monocyte-macrophage lineage in patients receiving HAART. These cells are capable of releasing infectious virus under appropriate stimulations.
