Rapid turnover of plasma virions and CD4 lymphocytes in HIV-1 infection

Abstract

Treatment of infected patients with ABT-538, an inhibitor of the protease of human immuno-deficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), causes plasma HIV-1 levels to decrease exponentially (mean half-life, 2.1 ±0.4 days) and CD4 lymphocyte counts to rise substantially. Minimum estimates of HIV-1 production and clearance and of CD4 lymphocyte turnover indicate that replication of HIV-1 in vivo is continuous and highly productive, driving the rapid turnover of CD4 lymphocytes. © 1995, Nature Publishing Group. All rights reserved.