The Lymphoid Tissue Pharmacology of Antiretroviral Drugs

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): HIV infection persists despite prolonged suppression of plasma viremia to undetectable levels. Little pharmacologic data are available on viral reservoirs such as the lymph node (LN) and gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) where the virus preferentially replicates. Our most important findings in work we have conducted to date are: (1) intracellular concentrations (ICs) of the antiretrovirals (ARVs) evaluated were uniformly lower in LN when compared with concentrations in plasma and PBMCs, and (2) de novo virus production persisted in LT of these patients, who all have plasma viral load