Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 in the Semen of Men Receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 in the Semen of Men Receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

New England Journal of Medicine (12/17/98) Vol. 339, No. 25, P. 1803
Zhang, Hui; Geethanjali, Dornadula; Beumont, Maria; et al.

Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pa., detected proviral DNA from HIV in the seminal cells of HIV-1-infected men receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy who had no detectable levels of viral RNA in their plasma. The finding suggests that the virus can be sexually transmitted by infected men who appear to be in remission. The researchers, led by Dr. Hui Zhang, found proviral DNA in the seminal cells of four of seven men tested. Two men showed replication-competent viruses in their seminal cells. According to the researchers, "the viruses recovered from the seminal cells had no genotypic mutations suggestive of resistance to antiretroviral drugs and were macrophage-tropic, a feature that is characteristic of HIV-1 strains that are capable of being sexually transmitted."

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