We plan to look at latency in acute HIV infection. Using flow cytometry, we plan to purify different cell populations from whole blood and lymphnodes of patients with acute HIV infection. We will determine what percentage of different cell populations are infected and we will monitor how this changes with time. Using PCR, we will determine how soon latency is established in the course of acute infection. We will also determine how much of the drop in viremia after seroconversion is due to trapping of virions as immune complexes versus the elimination of a subpopulation of infected cells. We will also determine whether latency can be prevented by the early initiation of highly antiretroviral therapy.
