Early Establishment of a Viral Reservoir

The hope of curing early HIV infection depends on the ability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent development of a persistent viral reservoir. But how early does reservoir seeding occur? To answer this, researchers studied 20 rhesus monkeys that were inoculated intrarectally with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and then either left untreated or given tenofovir, FTC, and dolutegravir for 24 weeks beginning 3, 7, 10, or 14 days after exposure.

ART initiated at 3 days prevented SIV viremia, as well as development of measurable humoral or cellular immune response, in four of four monkeys. In addition, SIV proviral DNA was never detectable in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in these animals. Proviral DNA was found in inguinal lymph …