Treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection with hydroxyurea, didanosine, and a protease inhibitor before seroconversion is associated with normalized immune parameters and limited viral reservoir

Current treatments for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) require uninterrupted drug administration because they are unable to reconstitute the immune response and do not affect the viral reservoir. Ten patients were treated during acute HIV infection before complete Western blot (WB) seroconversion with the combination of hydroxyurea, didanosine, and indinavir. This treatment was associated with the normalization of some immune parameters and functions. No loss of naive CD4 T lymphocytes was observed, and recovery of up to 35% of naive CD8 T lymphocytes occurred in several weeks. A vigorous HIV-specific T helper response (stimulation index >8) was observed in 7 of 8 patients treated before complete WB seroconversion but in only 1 of 5 controls treated after seroconversion. In addition, a limited latent viral reservoir (<0.02-0.5 infectious units/10⁵ cells) was documented in quiescent peripheral blood lymphocytes after treatment initiated before complete WB seroconversion.