Absence of detectable viremia in a perinatally HIV-1-infected teenager after discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy

J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006 Aug;118(2):324-30. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2006.05.016. Epub 2006 Jul 3.

Abstract

A 15-year-old girl with perinatal HIV-1 infection has remained asymptomatic with undetectable plasma HIV-1 viremia for more than 5 years after discontinuing all antiretroviral therapy. Viral sequence analysis of proviral HIV-1 DNA revealed no evident fitness-attenuating deletions or mutations. This subject exhibited an unusually robust HIV-specific T-cell response, with an intact CD4+ T cell-proliferative response to HIV-1 antigens. In addition, the subject was found to be heterozygous for the 32-bp deletion in the CCR5 gene, which encodes the primary coreceptor for HIV-1 entry into cells. This mutation mediates profound resistance to HIV infection in homozygotes and has been associated with delayed disease progression in heterozygotes after both horizontal and vertical HIV-1 infection. Although adults with long-term nonprogressive HIV disease have been studied at length, there is no prior description in the literature of a perinatally HIV-infected child whose plasma HIV-1 viremia is controlled to undetectable levels in the absence of antiretroviral therapy.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Anti-HIV Agents / therapeutic use
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Gene Products, gag / immunology
  • HIV Infections / drug therapy
  • HIV Infections / physiopathology
  • HIV Infections / transmission
  • HIV Infections / virology*
  • HIV-1*
  • Humans
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Receptors, CCR5 / genetics
  • Viral Load
  • Viremia / drug therapy
  • Viremia / physiopathology
  • Viremia / virology*

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • Gene Products, gag
  • Receptors, CCR5