Association of a pool of HIV-1 with erythrocytes in vivo: a cohort study

Treatment of HIV-1-infected individuals with antiretrovirals can result in sustained suppression of plasma viral RNA at concentrations below the detection limit of available assays. However, continuing virus replication has been detected in patients with viral RNA in plasma suppressed for months to years, and many cell types are known to act as reservoirs or carriers for the virus. In vitro, erythrocytes bind HIV-1 immune complexes, so we tested for a circulating pool of HIV-1 associated with erythrocytes in people with HIV-1 infection. We investigated 82 chronically HIV-1-infected individuals. Plasma, white cells, and erythrocytes were tested for HIV-1 RNA by RT-PCR. Erythrocyte-associated HIV-1 RNA was detected in 80 of 82 individuals. In 23, plasma HIV-1 RNA had been undetectable (