Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 kinetics in lymph nodes compared with plasma.

As lymphoid organs are the major reservoir of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the rates at which HIV-1 RNA decreases from the plasma and from a series of lymph node biopsies from 4 patients treated with a combination of zidovudine, didanosine, and lamivudine were measured. The concentrations of HIV-1 RNA in the plasma and in lymph nodes declined exponentially, with mean half-lives of 1.88 +/- 0.86 days for plasma and 6.01 +/- 3.44 days for lymph nodes. These data show that most of the HIV-1 in lymphoid organs is due to the infection of new cells and demonstrate that a triple-drug combination is able to target this compartment.