Loading...
Elite controllers are those lucky HIV-infected individuals whose plasma viral loads, as measured by standard commercial assays, remain undetectable without antiretroviral drugs. Ultrasensitive assays often identify very low-level viremia among elite controllers, but the consequences of this finding, in terms of anti-HIV defenses, have not been clear.
Using an ultrasensitive assay, researchers documented a wide range of low-level viremia among 83 elite controllers in a single Boston cohort. Some patients consistently registered levels <0.2 copies/mL, while others had “blips” to levels >50 copies/mL. The level of viremia was found to correlate directly with the breadth and potency of anti-HIV antibody response, with full Western blot reactivit…