The HIV-1 antibody response: a footprint of the viral reservoir in vertically HIV-infected children

Summary

Several assays have recently been developed to measure and characterize the replication-competent HIV-1 reservoir, which constitutes the barrier to cure. To date, application of these assays to studies in children and in limited-resource settings has been limited, primarily due to their expense, large required blood volumes, high costs, and labor-intensive technologies. In vertically HIV-1 infected children who initiated suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens in infancy, HIV-1 specific antibody levels are associated with levels of viral persistence and could be used as tools to estimate the size of the residual latent reservoir on ART. This may be particularly useful for screening these children on suppressive ART for enrollment into therapeutic vaccine and other protocols aimed at achieving HIV-1 remission.