Combined ART started during acute HIV infection protects central memory CD4+ T cells and can induce remission

Therapeutic control of HIV replication reduces the size of the viral reservoir, particularly among central memory CD4+ T cells, and this effect might be accentuated by early treatment. We examined the effect of ART initiated at the time of the primary HIV infection (early ART), lasting 2 and 6 years in 11 and 10 patients, respectively, on the HIV reservoir in peripheral resting CD4+ T cells, sorted into naive (TN), central memory (TCM), transitional memory (TTM) and effector memory (TEM) cells, by comparison with 11 post-treatment controllers (PTCs). Between baseline and 2 years, CD4+ T cell subset numbers increased markedly (P