Viral Load Dynamics in Recent HIV Infection

The CD4⁺ T-cell counts were estimated by flow cytometry (FACSCalibur, Becton Dickinson, USA) as a part of routine investigations using TruCOUNT kit (Becton Dickinson, USA). Plasma viral RNA load was measured by RT PCR (Cobas Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor Test Kit, version 1.5, Roche Diagnostics, NJ, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Lower detection limit of the plasma viral load assay was 400 RNA copies/ml. Hence for statistical analysis, values less than 400 RNA copies/ml were considered to be 400 RNA copies/ml.
The plasma viral load set point (PVL set point) was calculated in the study participants with RHI as described previously (22 (link)). Depending upon viral load set point, these participants were grouped into patients with low viral load set point (RHI-LVL) (PVL set point <4 Log₁₀ copies of RNA/ml) and patients with high viral load set point (RHI-HVL) (PVL set point >4 Log₁₀ copies of RNA/ml)(23 (link)). Of the 20 participants with RHI, 14 showed VL set point less than 4 Log₁₀ copies/ml (RHI-LVL) whereas six patients showed VL set point more than 4 Log₁₀ copies/ml (RHI-HVL).
The demographic, virological, and immunological data of all study participants is shown in Table 1.