Switching Virally Suppressed, Treatment-Experienced Patients to a Raltegravir-Containing Regimen Does Not Alter Levels of HIV-1 DNA

Lam Yu Ming Paul
McBride Kristin L.
Amin Janaki
Cordery Damien V.
Kelleher Anthony D.
Cooper David A.
Koelsch Kersten K.

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Publication date

March 2012

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0031990

Publisher

Public Library of Science

Abstract

Current HIV-1 antiretroviral therapy (ART) greatly reduces virus replication but does not significantly affect the viral reservoir. Raltegravir, a recently introduced integrase inhibitor, could, at least theoretically, reduce residual viremia in patients on ART and affect the viral reservoir size. The aim of this study was to assess whether switching therapy in treatment-experienced patients that were virally suppressed to a raltegravir-containing regimen reduces the size of the viral reservoir, and if such treatment leads to a change in levels of HIV 2-LTR circles in this patient group.14 ART experienced individuals with a suppressed viral load (<50 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL plasma) at baseline (for at least 2 months) were switched to a raltegra...