Absence of genetic diversity reduction in the HIV-1 integrated proviral LTR sequence population during successful combination therapy.

We report the integrated proviral LTR sequence variation in four patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Integrated proviral fragments of LTR taken from four time points were PCR amplified from PBMCs and 10 to 12 individual clones were sequenced for each time point. Intrasample genetic distances and phylogenetic reconstruction of all LTR sequences demonstrated that 1-2 years of successful HAART did not significantly reduce the genetic repertoire of the integrated reservoir of HIV-1. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.