Lack of Decay of HIV-1 in Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Reservoirs in Maximally Suppressed Individuals

Although peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and lymph nodes represent a principal reservoir, the contribution of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) has not been evaluated. In 15 HIV-1-infected subjects with maximal suppression of HIV replication by highly active antiretroviral therapy, we quantified HIV-1 DNA and RNA in mucosal biopsy specimens, PBMCs, and plasma with ultrasensitive assays. We also calculated compartmental burdens of HIV-1 DNA-positive cells and characterized the temporal decay of these reservoirs in a period of 1 year (with projections to >50 years). HIV-1 RNA was detected in 20% of the subjects' mucosal biopsy specimens and in 80% of the PBMC samples. Mucosal HIV-1 DNA was detected in 80% of the subjects and in 100% of the PBMC samples. Calculated numbers of lymphoid cells containing "potentially replication-competent" HIV-1 DNA showed that the PBMC compartment contained approximately 70,000 such cells, and GALT contained approximately 160,000 cells. Rates of decay slopes for all 15 subjects in both compartments were not statistically significantly different when compared with each other or with zero slope. Our data indicate that GALT is a quantitatively important reservoir of potentially replicative cells containing HIV-1 DNA, harboring at least as many or more of such cells as the PBMC compartment. In well-suppressed patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy, the GALT compartment showed no clear pattern of HIV-1 decay, similar to that in the PBMCs.