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J Virol, May 1998, p. 4265-4273, Vol. 72, No. 5
Regional Primate Research Center, University
of Washington, Seattle, Washington 981951;
Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis,
Received 18 November 1997/Accepted 30 January 1998
(R)-9-(2-Phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine (PMPA), an
acyclic nucleoside phosphonate analog, is one of a new class of potent antiretroviral agents. Previously, we showed that PMPA treatment for 28 days prevented establishment of persistent simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in macaques even when therapy was initiated 24 h after intravenous virus inoculation. In the present study, we
tested regimens involving different intervals between intravenous inoculation with SIV and initiation of PMPA treatment, as well as
different durations of treatment, for the ability to
prevent establishment of persistent infection. Twenty-four cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were studied for 46 weeks
after inoculation with SIV. All mock-treated control macaques showed evidence of productive infection within 2 weeks postinoculation (p.i.).
All macaques that were treated with PMPA for 28 days beginning 24 h p.i. showed no evidence of viral replication following
discontinuation of PMPA treatment. However, extending the time to
initiation of treatment from 24 to 48 or 72 h p.i. or decreasing
the duration of treatment reduced effectiveness in preventing
establishment of persistent infection. Only half of the
macaques treated for 10 days, and none of those treated for 3 days,
were completely protected when treatment was initiated at 24 h.
Despite the reduced efficacy of delayed and shortened treatment, all
PMPA-treated macaques that were not protected showed delays in the
onset of cell-associated and plasma viremia and antibody responses
compared with mock controls. These results clearly show that both the
time between virus exposure and initiation of PMPA treatment as well as
the duration of treatment are crucial factors for prevention of acute
SIV infection in the macaque model.
We recently used the simian
immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected macaque model to evaluate the
efficacy of (R)-9-(2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine (PMPA),
which is an acyclic nucleoside phosphonate analog and a potent
antiretroviral compound (1, 2) in the setting of acute
retroviral infection (23). In that study, PMPA prevented SIV
infection even when treatment was started 24 h after intravenous virus inoculation (23). The increased antiretroviral
efficacy of PMPA in SIV-challenged macaques (23), compared
with that of other nucleoside analogues such as zidovudine (AZT)
(15, 24, 29), may be related to ease of phosphorylation and
the longer intracellular half-life for active phosphorylated
metabolites of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates than for other
nucleoside analogs (1). Although PMPA is highly potent when
administered during de novo or early in SIV infection, the optimal
treatment regimen of PMPA for preventing establishment of persistent
SIV infection has not yet been determined. Therefore, we undertook the
present study to determine the impact of increasing intervals between virus inoculation and initiation of PMPA treatment and varying the
duration of treatment on the effectiveness of treatment in preventing
the establishment of persistent infection.
Macaques.
The subjects were 24 cynomolgus macaques
(Macaca fascicularis), 12 males and 12 females, 2.5 to 3.5 years old. All animals were determined to be clinically healthy and
free of type D retrovirus and SIV before virus inoculation. The
macaques were assigned to study groups as summarized in Table
1 and Fig. 1 to 3. Treatment regimens are
described in detail below. Care and husbandry were in strict
conformance with federal guidelines. All procedures were approved by
the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of
Washington.
Virus inoculum.
Virus used for inoculation was derived from
the cell culture supernatant of uncloned SIVmne propagated
in HuT 78 cells (3). The cell supernatant was filtered
(0.45-µm-pore-size filter; Nalgene, Rochester, N.Y.) and frozen in
aliquots in liquid nitrogen. The titer of this virus stock was
105 tissue culture infectious doses per milliliter as
determined in human T-cell lines. The stock was diluted immediately
before inoculation. All macaques were inoculated intravenously with 1.0 ml of 103 tissue culture infectious doses, which is
equivalent to 10 times the 50% animal infectious dose (25).
Such a dose results in 100% infectivity in macaques. Intravenous
inoculation was used to minimize potential differences between animals
in transmission across mucosal barriers.
PMPA preparation and treatment regimen.
PMPA was dissolved
in water, and the pH was adjusted to 7.0 with 0.1 N NaOH. The volume of
the solution was adjusted with distilled water to a PMPA concentration
of 30 mg/ml and filter sterilized (0.2-µm-pore-size filter; Nalgene).
The macaques were divided into six groups of four animals each (groups
A, B, C, D, E, and F) and inoculated intravenously with 10 times the
50% animal infectious dose of SIVmne. The four macaques in
group A served as an infection control group: after inoculation they
were mock treated with sterile, physiological saline for 28 days. The macaques in groups B to F were treated with PMPA beginning 24, 48, or
72 h postinoculation (p.i.). PMPA (30 mg/kg) was administered once
daily via the subcutaneous route for 3, 10, or 28 days. The treatment
regimens for macaque groups A to F are summarized in Table 1.
Clinical observations.
The macaques were observed daily for
general physical condition including appetite, stool consistency,
activity level, and appearance. At specific intervals they were
anesthetized with ketamine for thorough physical examination. At these
times, weight and body temperature were recorded and blood was drawn
for complete blood counts, serum biochemistry, virology, and lymphocyte
subset analyses. Blood draws were performed weekly during PMPA
treatment (i.e., the first 4 weeks p.i.), every 2 weeks for the next 6 weeks, and then once a month until the end of the study (46 weeks
p.i.). The data obtained from the physical examinations and blood
analyses were used to monitor the course of SIV infection, SIV-induced disease, and potential drug toxicity.
Processing of blood samples.
EDTA-anticoagulated blood was
collected as described above, and the course of SIV infection was
followed for 46 weeks. The EDTA-anticoagulated blood obtained from the
femoral vein was centrifuged to separate plasma and buffy coats. Plasma
was aliquoted and used for assays of SIV RNA, anti-SIV immunoglobulin G
(IgG) antibodies, and immunoblotting. Peripheral blood mononuclear
cells (PBMC) were separated from the buffy coat by centrifugation
through Ficoll-Hypaque density gradients (Pharmacia, Piscataway, N.J.).
SIV RNA in plasma (plasma-associated virus).
Virus-associated SIV RNA in plasma was quantified via a real-time
reverse transcriptase (RT)-mediated PCR (RT-PCR) assay as described in
detail elsewhere (22). Briefly, plasma virion-associated RNA
was extracted with commercial reagents (Purescript; Gentra Systems, Minneapolis, Minn.). After a random-primed reverse
transcription, real-time quantitative PCR analysis was
performed with primers to a highly conserved region of SIV
gag sequence and a fluorochrome-labeled internally
hybridizing oligonucleotide probe (22). Duplicate RT-PCRs
were performed for each sample, along with a reaction in which no RT
was included as a control to detect any DNA contamination of the test
samples. The nominal threshold sensitivity for the assay was 300 copy
eq/ml of plasma.
Assessment of virus infectivity.
The frequency of infected
cells was measured by cocultivation of serial 10-fold dilutions
(106 to 101) of PBMC or lymph node mononuclear
cells (LNMC) prepared from biopsied lymph nodes with target cells
(C8166) in 24-well tissue culture plates or cell culture flasks for
virus isolation (23, 26). The cells were maintained in RPMI
1640 medium to which were added 2 mM L-glutamine, 50 µg
of gentamicin per ml, and 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum.
Cultures were examined twice weekly for syncytial cytopathic effects,
and culture supernatants were sampled weekly for detection of SIV p27
antigens by antigen capture assay (Coulter, Hialeah, Fla.). All
cultures were maintained for 4 weeks by weekly passage of culture on to
fresh target cells. The results of virus isolation and detection were
used for estimating the frequency of infectious cells or the level of
cell-associated virus. For example, 106 PBMC or LNMC needed
for detection of SIV were determined as one infectious cell frequency;
105 and 104 PBMC that yielded a positive SIV
were expressed as 10 and 100 infectious cells per 106 PBMC,
or 1- to 2-log-higher levels of cell-associated virus.
Virus isolation from PBMC or LNMC.
Approximately
106 PBMC were cultured for 2 days in RPMI 1640 containing 5 µg of phytohemagglutinin (Sigma) per ml for activation of T
lymphocytes. The supernatant of culture was removed, and the cell
pellets were resuspended in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 8 U of
human interleukin-2 (Boehringer Mannheim) per ml and cocultivated with
C8166 cells. The basic methods for cell culture and virus isolation
were the same as those described for infectivity assays described
above. Culture supernatants were sampled for measuring the levels of
SIV p27 antigen by the use of a capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay (Coulter).
PCR for SIV DNA in PBMC.
PCR detection of SIV nucleic acid
sequences was performed on DNA extracted from PBMC, using a nested set
of oligonucleotide primers specific for SIV long terminal repeat
regions as described previously (23, 24). Briefly, 1 µg of
PBMC DNA was amplified in each reaction mixture containing 0.2 mM
deoxynucleoside triphosphates, 2.0 mM MgCl2, Amplitaq
buffer, 2.5 U of Taq polymerase (Amplitaq; Perkin-Elmer
Cetus, Norwalk, Conn.), and 10 nM primers (National Bioscience,
Plymouth, Mass.). Samples were amplified with external primers, the
products were diluted 1:100, and the internal nested primers were used
to amplify a fragment of 850 bp. Specific DNA bands were detected on
ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels. Analysis was done for PBMC
collected at multiple time points from 1 to 46 weeks p.i.
Antibody determination.
Anti-SIV IgG antibody titers in
plasma were detected by an immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) assay
(25, 27) and expressed as the reciprocal of the highest
twofold dilution (duplicate per dilution) that gave positive
immunofluorescence staining. Briefly, plasma from experimental macaques
was diluted 1:20 to 1:40,960 in phosphate-buffered saline. SIV-infected
C8166 cells attached to Teflon-coated slides (Cel-Line Associates,
Newfield, N.J.) were used as target cells for binding SIV antibodies
from the diluted plasma. After incubation and washing,
fluorescein-conjugated goat anti-monkey IgG (Organon Teknika Cappel,
Malvern, Pa.) was added. Cells showing fluorescence were
considered to be positive for the presence of SIV antibody. The lower
limit of the IFA assay for anti-SIV IgG antibody titer was 1:20.
SIV-specific antibodies to viral proteins were detected by Western
blotting (3, 4) using a 0.45-µm-pore-size Immobilon
membrane (Millipore, Bedford, Mass.). Briefly, 1,000-fold-concentrated
SIV was separated on sodium dodecyl sulfate-10 to 20% polyacrylamide
electrophoresis gradient gels and transferred by electrophoresis as
described previously (3) except that a 0.45-µm-pore-size
Immobilon membrane (Millipore) was used instead of nitrocellulose. On
Western immunoblots, each strip contained approximately 10 µg of
viral proteins.
Lymphocyte subset analysis.
CD4+ and
CD8+ lymphocyte data were obtained from all macaques
before, during, and after PMPA treatment. Specific lymphocyte subsets
were determined by incubating EDTA-anticoagulated blood samples with a
panel of mouse anti-human monoclonal antibodies that react with macaque
lymphocytes (23, 26). Specific CD4+ cells and
other lymphocyte subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry using a
FACScan (Becton Dickinson, San Jose, Calif.). Absolute cell numbers
were calculated from total and differential leukocyte counts and the
percentage of lymphocytes with T-cell markers.
Statistical analysis.
Data obtained from virologic,
immunologic, and hematologic studies were analyzed by Virologic and serologic studies.
All macaques were monitored
at predetermined intervals for levels of plasma virion-associated SIV
RNA, PBMC-associated virus, PCR SIV DNA in PBMC, and SIV antibody
responses. The summary and outcome of the various PMPA
treatments are shown in Table 1. To facilitate comparison of data for
individual macaques described in the text, the study groups and the
macaque numbers in each group are shown in the same order in Fig. 1 to
3 and in Table 1. Comparisons of virologic data between group A (the
mock-treated control) and groups B (treated starting 24 h p.i.), C
(treated starting 48 h p.i.) and D (treated starting 72 h
p.i.) demonstrate the effects of the time interval between intravenous
virus inoculation and the initiation of PMPA treatment. Similarly, the
differences between group A and groups B, E, and F demonstrate the
effects of various durations of PMPA treatment (28, 10, and 10 days,
respectively). In addition to the virologic status shown in Table 1,
detailed data for PBMC-associated SIV (Fig.
2), plasma-associated virus (Fig.
1), and SIV antibody responses (Table 1
and Fig. 3) were used as criteria for
determining SIV infection.
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Effectiveness of Postinoculation
(R)-9-(2-Phosphonylmethoxypropyl)Adenine Treatment for
Prevention of Persistent Simian Immunodeficiency Virus
SIVmne Infection Depends Critically on Timing of
Initiation and Duration of Treatment
![]()
ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
TABLE 1.
Summary of virological and immunological status following
various treatment regimens
2
and analysis of variance.
![]()
RESULTS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References

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FIG. 1.
Plasma viral load levels in mock-treated and
PMPA-treated macaques after intravenous inoculation with uncloned
SIVmne. SIV RNA levels in plasma were measured by a
sensitive quantitative competitive RT-PCR assay as described in the
text. Threshold sensitivity for the assay was 300 copy eq/ml of
plasma.

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FIG. 2.
Frequencies of infectious cells in PBMC from
macaques. The frequency of infectious cells was measured by
cocultivation of serial dilutions of PBMC with target cells for
detection of viral replication as described in the text.

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FIG. 3.
Anti-SIV IgG antibody response in mock-treated and
PMPA-treated macaques after intravenous inoculation with uncloned
SIVmne. Titers were expressed as the reciprocal of the
highest dilution that yielded positive immunofluorescent staining. The
lowest titer of SIV-positive antibody in this assay was 1:40.
Clinical status and drug toxicity. None of the PMPA-treated macaques showed signs of toxic side effects throughout the maximum duration of treatment (28 days); there were no abnormalities in complete blood counts, serum chemistry and biochemistry profiles, general physical condition, or neurobehavioral activities. However, 8 of the 16 PMPA-treated macaques (groups B to E) showed transient decreases of serum phosphorus during treatment (the first 4 weeks p.i.). Of these eight macaques, one (95035) had a severe decrease (1.1 to 2.5 mg/dl) and seven had a mild decrease (2.9 to 3.5 mg/dl) of serum phosphorus. In contrast, untreated controls (group A) and macaques treated with PMPA for only 3 days (group F) showed normal values of serum phosphorus ranging from 4.0 to 6.4 mg/dl (mean, 4.99 ± 0.49) and from 4.1 to 6.1 mg/dl (mean, 5.24 ± 0.23), respectively. All four mock-treated macaques showed a transient mild decrease in leukocyte counts at 2 weeks p.i., and three showed a moderate lymphadenopathy at 4 weeks p.i. Beginning 10 weeks p.i., mock-treated macaques with high viral load (i.e., based on levels of plasma SIV RNA and infectious cells per 106 PBMC) developed persistent lymphadenopathy and recurrent skin rashes.
Of the 20 PMPA-treated macaques, seven showed no clinical signs of SIV infection and six showed only transient clinical evidence of infection. The remaining seven PMPA-treated macaques, which had persistently high viral loads, exhibited recurrent rashes and/or lymphadenopathy similar to those observed in the mock-treated macaques. Two mock-treated macaques with high viral load had severe thrombocytopenia beginning 46 weeks p.i. Similarly, four PMPA-treated macaques with persistent viremia and high viral loads also developed moderate to severe thrombocytopenia beginning 46 weeks p.i.Lymphocyte subsets. To determine whether the antiviral effect of PMPA treatment also improves responses of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in PBMC, the PMPA-treated macaques were grouped according to the level of viremia and then compared with mock-treated macaques. The mock-treated macaques (n = 4) showed a decrease in the mean CD4+ cells from 2,300 ± 446 cells/mm3 at virus inoculation to 1,585 ± 461 cells/mm3 over the course of 20 weeks p.i. The PMPA-treated macaques that were virus negative (n = 7) and only transiently iremic (n = 6) showed slight increases in the mean CD4+ cells, from 2,015 ± 693 cells/mm3 at virus inoculation to 2,436 ± 310 cells/mm3 by week 20 p.i. The PMPA-treated, persistently viremic macaques (n = 7) showed a slight decrease in the mean CD4+ cells from 2,073 ± 497 cells/mm3 before inoculation to 1,515 ± 186 cells/mm3 by week 20 p.i.; this was similar to the level of the mock-treated macaques. There was no significant difference in the CD4+/CD8+ ratios between PMPA-treated macaques and mock-treated macaques before week 32 p.i. (data not shown). However, beginning at week 46 p.i., two of the four mock-treated macaques showed further decreases in CD4+ cells (range, 572 to 583 cells/mm3; mean, 578 ± 8 cells/mm3) as well as CD4+/CD8+ ratios (range, 0.31 to 0.63; mean, 0.47 ± 0.23). Similarly, six of seven PMPA-treated, persistently viremic macaques showed further decreases in CD4+ cells (range, 665 to 1,288 cells/mm3; mean, 985 ± 266 cells/mm3) as well as CD4+/CD8+ ratios (range, 0.33 to 0.76; mean, 0.45 ± 0.18). The remaining two mock-treated macaques, seven PMPA-protected macaques, and six PMPA-treated, transiently viremic macaques had normal or slightly increased levels of CD4+ cells and CD4/CD8 ratios. Approximately 50% of both mock-treated controls and PMPA-treated macaques showed an intermediate to persistent increase in CD20 cell counts (or B cells).
Evaluation of efficacy. On the basis of virologic, immunologic, and clinical results, we confirmed our previous finding that PMPA at a dose of 30 mg/kg once daily by subcutaneous injection for 28 days is safe and well tolerated. PMPA treatment that was begun 24 h after viral inoculation and continued for 28 days completely prevented the establishment of persistent SIVmne infection throughout the 46-week study. PMPA treatment for the same duration (28 days) but not begun until 48 or 72 h p.i. was less efficacious. Furthermore, reducing the duration of treatment from 28 days to 10 days diminished protection in one of the four macaques on this regimen, and limiting the duration to 3 days further reduced the efficacy of PMPA against acute SIVmne infection. However, all the macaques that did become infected in the PMPA-treated groups showed delays in PBMC-associated virus, plasma viremia, and antibody responses compared with mock controls.
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DISCUSSION |
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Previously, we showed that PMPA treatment at 30 mg/kg daily for 28 days completely prevented detectable acute SIV infection and establishment of persistent infection in macaques, even when therapy was started 24 h after intravenous virus inoculation (23). In the present study, we explored the temporal parameters of postinoculation PMPA treatment, with three major aims: (i) to understand the impact of increasing delays between inoculation and onset of treatment, as well as the impact of various durations of treatment on antiviral effectiveness; (ii) to identify the most effective regimen for postinoculation PMPA treatment in M. fascicularis inoculated intravenously with SIVmne; and (iii) to gain insight into basic aspects of early SIV viral replication following intravenous inoculation.
Our results show that a 4-week regimen of PMPA completely protects macaques from acute SIV infection and establishment of persistent infection if treatment is initiated within 24 h p.i. but provides less protection if treatment is begun 48 or 72 h p.i. The highest efficacy achieved when treatment was begun 24 h p.i. indicated that the level of virus infection established within 24 h after intravenous inoculation was still low enough to be preventable by an effective (28-day) regimen of antiretroviral treatment, plus perhaps a contribution from immune responses. The antiretroviral effect of PMPA treatment most probably involved blocking the spread of virus from those CD4+ cells already infected by the time treatment was initiated and then maintaining the blockade until this population of cells had decreased through death and clearance, thereby precluding reemergence of extensive viral replication after drug treatment was withdrawn. The failure of similar 28-day treatment regimens beginning 48 or 72 h p.i. implies that within 2 to 3 days of systemic exposure, the virus can establish a level or type of infection that does not decay sufficiently over a 28-day treatment period to preclude reemergence upon withdrawal of treatment. Overall, there seems to be a short temporal window during which postinoculation PMPA treatment can block establishment of persistent infection. After this time, PMPA treatment may dramatically decrease viral replication but cannot prevent or eradicate persistent infection (16, 28, 30).
The duration of postinoculation PMPA treatment also was critical in blocking the establishment of persistent SIV infection. Even when started within 24 h p.i., a 3-day course of PMPA treatment was largely ineffective and a 10-day course protected only half of the macaques tested, while a 28-day course was 100% effective. These results clearly establish that the mechanism of postinoculation PMPA treatment effects is not through the blockade of initial infection by the inoculating virus and provide insight into the size and life span of the infected cell population established in the period between inoculation and the initiation of treatment. The average clearance half life of the productively infected cells contributing the majority of virions to the plasma virus pool in SIV-infected macaques is estimated at less than 2 days (16), similar to values for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected humans (11, 17, 18, 32). Assuming that complete blockade by PMPA of new infections occurs, the pool of such cells will decay at this rate during the treatment period. In this model, the effectiveness of a given treatment regimen will thus depend on the size of the infected cell pool at the initiation of treatment and on whether the duration of treatment provides a sufficient number of clearance half-lives for the pool of infected cells to decay below the threshold required for reemergence of virus upon discontinuation of treatment. In this model, back-calculation for the number of treatment half-lives comprised by different treatment durations allows provisional estimation of the pool size of productively infected cells present at the initiation of treatment. This depends on assumptions about the pool size of residual productively infected cells required for reemergence of measurable plasma virus following discontinuation of treatment.
One additional factor contributing to differences in the reemergence of virus upon discontinuation of treatment in identically inoculated animals receiving identical PMPA treatment regimens likely involves differences in the size or nature of the infected cell pool present at the initiation of treatment (10, 13, 31). Marked differences in viral replication patterns were observed between identically inoculated mock-treated control animals, similar to other reports (10, 13, 31), with comparable or greater variability in the heterogeneity of viral replication patterns in identically inoculated, identically PMPA-treated animals, except for the uniform protection observed in those that received 28-day treatment beginning 24 h p.i. (group B).
Infection of longer-lived cells may also play a role in the results obtained. Thus, although the majority of virus in the plasma compartment is derived from productively infected cells with a clearance half-life of less than 2 days (16), decay characteristics of the plasma virus compartment with sustained antiretroviral treatment indicate the presence of additional compartments with decay half-lives on the order of approximately 14 to 40 days (14, 17, 18). This compartment may reflect contributions both from virus produced by longer-lived cells such as macrophage lineage cells and from the activation of viral replication from latently infected cells. Recent studies indicate that this latently infected cell compartment can persist for prolonged periods, even in the face of continuous effective antiretroviral treatment that suppresses viral replication to below detectable levels (8, 9, 33). However, the time when this compartment is first established has not been determined. This factor, which is critical for understanding retroviral pathogenesis and designing effective treatment for HIV infection, may also help determine the effectiveness of different postinoculation treatment regimens. Given the prolonged lifetime of these cells, short-term antiretroviral treatment is unlikely to prevent establishment of persistent infection if initiated after the establishment of such a latently infected cell compartment. Identification of the time interval during which this compartment is first established, and evaluation of its contribution to the type of results that we observed, will be important objectives for future studies.
In this study, we also investigated the time kinetics of viral infection, including antibody responses, in macaques that became infected in the face of incompletely protective PMPA treatment. In saline-treated macaques, evidence of productive viral infection developed within 1 to 2 weeks p.i. No such evidence was observed in macaques that received 4 weeks of PMPA treatment starting 24 h p.i. For macaques that achieved incomplete protection, the main effect of PMPA treatment was to delay the onset of viral infection and antibody response until 1 to 3 weeks after PMPA treatment ended. PMPA likely delayed the spread of infection by preventing de novo infection from cells already infected at the initiation of treatment to new uninfected targets. Stopping PMPA treatment before the end of 4 weeks of treatment presumably resulted in the resumption of virus spread from infected cells whose life span exceeded our treatment period, such as latently infected cells with proviral DNA or perhaps infected cells sequestered in sites that are functionally inaccessible to PMPA treatment. However, these PMPA-treated, SIV-infected macaques had markedly different patterns of viral replication, as reflected by plasma SIV RNA measurements, than did mock-treated controls, including 50% of macaques in which plasma SIV RNA was detectable only transiently following the withdrawal of PMPA. These macaques also showed lower antibody responses, consistent with lower levels of viral replication, than did macaques with persistent infection. In these cases, PMPA treatment may have suppressed early virus replication sufficiently to allow development of immune responses capable of holding viral replication comparatively in check upon withdrawal of treatment. The present study did not include a rechallenge with infectious virus of those macaques manifesting only apparently transient infection, to determine whether such transient viral replication was associated with induction of protective immune responses. However, it is intriguing to speculate that such protection, if it occurs, may be similar to the apparent increased resistance to HIV infection and demonstrable immune responses to HIV, seen in some seronegative subjects with repeated exposures, consistent with prior abortive or transient infection (19-21).
There is a need for a regimen of antiretroviral treatment that completely inhibits de novo viral infection and eliminates the long-lived infected cells in HIV type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients (6, 8, 9, 18). Such a regimen would be clinically beneficial and could prevent the development of drug-resistant viruses. Current regimens can prevent viral replication, but the long-lived infected cells remain a formidable challenge. In this study we found that a 4-week regimen of PMPA treatment beginning 24 h after virus exposure seems to be effective against acute SIV in macaques presumably because it suppresses viral spread during the period usually associated with the initial burst of acute viral replication, allowing decay of the infected cell pool already established by the time treatment is initiated. Unlike PMPA, AZT given postexposure is incompletely effective against acute SIV infection in macaques (15, 24, 29). The greater efficacy of PMPA compared with AZT may be related to the rapid intracellular formation and long half-life of PMPA's active metabolites in macaques (9a).
The course of acute SIV infection in macaques as well as primary HIV-1 infection in humans suggests that the first week after virus exposure is a critical time during which antiviral therapy can be most effective. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to know when exposure has occurred among the general population. Among the infant population, however, it can be assumed that neonates born to HIV-infected mothers have been exposed to the virus. Epidemiological studies suggest that about 65 to 70% of infants with congenital HIV-1 infection became infected shortly before or during delivery (5, 7, 12). Beginning PMPA treatment regimen within 24 h after birth could have a significant role in reducing the risk of maternal transmission of HIV-1 infection to these infants.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This study was supported in part by USPHS NIH NIAID contracts N01-AI-15120 and N01-AI-65311 and by NIH grant RR00166.
We thank Roberta Black for invaluable consultation on this study and for review of the manuscript, T. A. Wiltrout for technical assistance with RT-PCR SIV RNA, and Marj Domenowske for illustration service.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: UW Research Laboratory, 11th Floor, Pacific Medical Center, 1200 Twelfth Ave. South, Seattle, WA 98144. Phone: (206) 325-4863. Fax: (206) 325-5134. E-mail: cctsai{at}bart.rprc.washington.edu
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