Viral Load Dynamics in Plasma and Semen When Antiretroviral Therapy Is Initiated During Early HIV-1 Infection

Trupti Gilada; Angela K Ulrich; Yixin Wang; Javier R Lama; Ricardo Alfaro; Socorro Harb; Glenda Daza; Sarah Holte; Siavash Pasalar; Jessica Rios; Carmela Ganoza; Sayan Dasgupta; Robert W Coombs; Ann Duerr

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiad520

Viral Load Dynamics in Plasma and Semen When Antiretroviral Therapy Is Initiated During Early HIV-1 Infection

J Infect Dis. 2024 Apr 12;229(4):1141-1146. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiad520.

Authors

Trupti Gilada¹, Angela K Ulrich^{2

3}, Yixin Wang⁴, Javier R Lama⁵, Ricardo Alfaro⁶, Socorro Harb⁷, Glenda Daza⁷, Sarah Holte^{8

9

10}, Siavash Pasalar⁴, Jessica Rios¹¹, Carmela Ganoza¹², Sayan Dasgupta⁴, Robert W Coombs⁷, Ann Duerr^{4

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Unison Medicare and Research Center, Mumbai, India.
² Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
³ Division of Environmental Health Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
⁴ Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁵ Asociación Civil Impacta Salud y Educación, Lima, Peru.
⁶ Centro de Investigaciones Tecnológicas Biomédicas y Medioambientales, Lima, Peru.
⁷ School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁸ Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
⁹ Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹¹ Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc, Lima, Peru.
¹² HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Lima, Peru.

Abstract

We assessed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) load in plasma and semen during primary HIV infection using serial samples of semen and plasma during the first 24 weeks after diagnosis in untreated participants and those who started antiretroviral therapy (ART) immediately at diagnosis. In the absence of treatment, semen viral load was >1000 copies/mL in almost all specimens (83%) collected 2-10 weeks after the estimated date of HIV acquisition and remained >1000 copies/mL in 35% of untreated participants at the last observed time point. Thus, in the absence of ART, semen viral load remained at a level consistent with transmissibility throughout primary infection.

Keywords: HIV; antiretroviral therapy (ART); blood; plasma; semen; seminal plasma; viral load.

MeSH terms

HIV Infections*
HIV-1*
Humans
Plasma
RNA, Viral
Semen
Viral Load

Substances

RNA, Viral

Grants and funding

R01 DA032106/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States