T-cell activation positively correlates with cell-associated HIV-DNA level in viremic patients with primary or chronic HIV-1 infection.

We investigated the relationship between the size of blood HIV reservoirs and T-cell activation in patients with primary HIV infection (PHI) and chronic HIV infection (CHI) before and after antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption. Levels of T-cell activation strongly positively correlated with HIV-DNA levels in viremic PHI and CHI patients. In ART-treated CHI patients, residual immune activation was not associated with HIV-DNA levels. Interestingly, early levels of HIV-DNA in PHI predicted the extent of residual T-cell proliferation under ART.