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BACKGROUND: Treatments combining T-cell activating agents and potent antiretroviral drugs have been proposed as a possible means of reducing the reservoir of long-lived HIV-1 infected quiescent CD4 T-cells. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the effect of such therapies on HIV-1 dynamics and T-cell homeostasis. DESIGN AND METHODS: A mathematical framework describing HIV-1 dynamics and T-cell homeostasis was developed. Three patients who were kept on a particularly potent course of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) were treated with the anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody OKT3 and interleukin (IL)-2. Plasma HIV-RNA, and HIV-RNA and DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and lymph node mononuclear cells were measured. These results and other published studies on the use of IL-2 alone were assessed using our mathematical framework. RESULTS: We show that outcome of treatment is determined by the relative rates of depletion of the infected quiescent T-cell population by activation and of its replenishment through new infection. Which of these two processes dominates is critically dependent on both the potency of HAART and also the degree of T-cell activation induced. We demonstrate that high-level T-cell stimulation is likely to produce negative outcomes, both by failing to reduce viral reservoirs and by depleting the CD4 T-cell pool and disrupting CD4/CD8 T-cell homeostasis. In contrast, repeated low-level stimulation may both aid CD4 T-cell pool expansion and achieve a substantial reduction in the long-lived HIV-1 reservoir. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that although treatment that activates T-cells can reduce the long-lived HIV-1 reservoir, caution should be used as high-level stimulation may result in a negative outcome.

Original publication

DOI

10.1097/00002030-200004140-00005

Type

Journal article

Journal

AIDS (London, England)

Publication Date

04/2000

Volume

14

Pages

659 - 669

Addresses

Wellcome Trust Centre for the Epidemiology of Infectious Disease, University of Oxford, UK.

Keywords

Lymph Nodes, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Humans, HIV-1, HIV Infections, Muromonab-CD3, Recombinant Proteins, DNA, Viral, RNA, Viral, Immunosuppressive Agents, Interleukin-2, Anti-HIV Agents, Lymphocyte Count, CD4-CD8 Ratio, Drug Therapy, Combination, Viral Load, Lymphocyte Activation, Virus Replication, Homeostasis, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Models, Biological