Correlation of HIV-specific immunity, viral control, and diversification following planned multiple exposures to autologous HIV in a pediatric population.

Repeated controlled exposure to autologous virus was previously shown to result in increased CD8 T lymphocyte response to HIV antigens and accompanying reduction in viremia. We attempted to see if this immunity contributed to virologic control by correlating the immune response with quasispecies envelope diversification, an indicator of immune selection. The greatest diversification was seen in those with the greatest reduction in viremia but was unrelated to the frequency of Env-specific gamma interferon-producing cells. There was a trend toward correlation between the response to multiple HIV antigens and diversification.