Lack of Correlation between Seminal and Plasma HIV-1 Viral Loads is Associated with CD4T Cell Depletion in Therapy-naïve HIV-1+ Patients

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate a possible correlation between plasma (PVL)

Associations between Virologic and Immunologic Dynamics in Blood and in the Male Genital Tract

“…(i) Overall. Similar to previous studies (13,39,56,69,72), we found a positive trend between HIV RNA levels in blood and semen (P ϭ 0.07), while no correlations were found between seminal HIV and CMV levels (P ϭ 0.35) or between seminal HSV and CMV levels (P ϭ 0.39). Activation levels (RA-CD38 ϩ ) of CD4 ϩ and CD8 ϩ subsets in blood were highly correlated with each other (P Ͻ 0.001) and with activation of CD8 ϩ T cells in semen (P Ͻ 0.01).…”

“…Although HIV RNA levels in blood roughly correlate with levels in seminal plasma (13,39,56,69,72), local genital factors, particularly concomitant sexually transmitted infections (STI), can increase HIV shedding in semen (38,39,61). Common bacterial STI can also increase the number of immune cells in the genital tract (9,52), and elevated counts of white blood cells in semen are associated with higher seminal HIV shedding (3,4,69,80).…”

Herpes viruses and HIV-1 drug resistance mutations influence the virologic and immunologic milieu of the male genital tract

“…Although HIV-1 RNA levels in blood correlate with levels in seminal plasma[3,8–10], local genital factors, particularly concomitant bacterial sexual transmitted infections (STI), can increase HIV-1 shedding in semen [10–12]. Not only bacterial STI but also chronic viral co-infections, e.g.herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and cytomegalovirus (CMV),likely influence HIV-1 pathogenesis, transmission and dynamics within the genital tract[13–16].…”

Development and evaluation of a qualitative reverse-transcriptase nested polymerase chain reaction protocol for same-day viral validation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ribonucleic acid in processed semen

“…Viral load of HIV measured in blood plasma is known to be related to HIV transmission risk (1,2), but viral loads in semen and in blood plasma may be discordant, and blood viral load cannot precisely reflect the HIV transmission risk (3,4). Semen preparation techniques are helpful for decreasing the viral load in semen (5,6) and frequently are being applied in the settings of medically assisted procreation.…”