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Updated: Mar 5, 2026

Amplification of Near Full-length HIV-1 Proviruses for Next-Generation Sequencing
Published on: October 16, 2018
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 DNA Decay Dynamics With Early, Long-term Virologic Control of Perinatal Infection
Priyanka Uprety1, Kunjal Patel2, Brad Karalius2
1W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Background.:
Early antiretroviral therapy (ART) limits proviral reservoirs, a goal for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) remission strategies. Whether this is an immediate or long-term effect of virologic suppression (VS) in perinatal infection is unknown.
Methods.:
We quantified HIV-1 DNA longitudinally for up to 14 years in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) among 61 perinatally HIV-1-infected youths in the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study who achieved VS at different ages. Participants in group 1 (n = 13) were <1 year of age and in group 2 (n = 48) from 1 through 5 years of age at VS. Piecewise linear mixed-effects regression models assessed the effect of age at VS on HIV-1 DNA trajectories during VS.
Results.:
In the first 2 years following VS, HIV-1 DNA levels decreased by -0.25 (95% confidence interval [CI], -.36 to -.13) log10 copies/million PBMCs per year and was faster with early VS by age 1 year compared with after age 1 (-0.50 and -0.15 log10 copies/million PBMCs per year, respectively). Between years 2 and 14 from VS, HIV-1 DNA decayed by -0.05 (95% CI, -.06 to -.03) log10 copies/million PBMCs per year and was no longer significantly different between groups. The estimated mean half-life of HIV-1 DNA from VS was 15.9 years and was shorter for group 1 compared to group 2 at 5.9 years and 18.8 years, respectively (P = .09). Adjusting for CD4 cell counts had no effect on decay estimates.
Conclusions.:
Early effective, long-term ART initiated from infancy leads to decay of HIV-1-infected cells to exceedingly low concentrations desired for HIV-1 remission strategies.
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