TABLE 1.
TABLE 1.
Estimates of the HIV-1 in vivo effective population sizea
| Study (references) | Patient group | Population | Gene(s) | Ne |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leigh Brown (22) | Untreated | Free virus | env | 1,000-2,100 |
| Nijhuis et al. (31) | Before and during therapy | Free virus | env | 450-16,000 |
| Rodrigo et al. (37) | Before and during therapy | Provirus | env | 925-1,800 |
| Rouzine and Coffin (38) | Untreated and on therapy | Free virus/provirus | pro | 100,000 |
| Seo et al. (39) | Untreated and on therapy | Free virus/provirus | env | 1,500-5,500 |
| Shriner et al. (40) | Untreated and on therapy | Free virus/provirus | env | 1,000 |
| Achaz et al. (1) | Untreated | Free virus | gag-pol | 1,000-10,000 |
↵ a Seven different studies estimate Ne between 500 and 105. Shriner et al. (40) show that the high number estimated by Rouzine and Coffin (38) decreases to aproximately 103 upon correcting for a biased sampling procedure. Therefore, the effective population size is probably between 103 and 104. Untreated patients show similar numbers to patients on therapy. Similar results were obtained by measuring plasma viral RNA or cell-associated viral DNA. Although different selection pressures act on env and gag-pol, it is interesting to note that similar estimates of Ne have been found based on data for both genes.
