HIV Latency and Distinct Anatomical Reservoirs: A Systemic Review

Abstract

Although the HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy) a triple form of drugs has exponentially enhanced the CD4+ T immune cell count in HIV-1 infected patients and has improved the expectancy of many HIV-1 infected patients’ life. The drug results have also contributed to bringing the plasma virus load up to a clinically undetectable level in HIV-1 infected patients for several years. However, with these drug interventions, complete eradication or treatment of the virus is hard to achieve. The primary obstacle that has been raised is the persistence of ongoing viral replication inside the host CD4+ T immune cells. These infected immune cells can be transformed into the latent stage (transcriptionally silent) for many years and hardly be targeted by the current HAART-based interventions. Besides this incredible specialty of the HIV-1 virus, it can also simply hide in diverse anatomical reservoirs having immune cells at separated locations. The presence of these locations easily facilitates the virus to escape from the host immune surveillance and also contributes to low viral production in patients on antiretroviral therapy. As a result, we review our current knowledge to provide a better understanding of multifactorial mechanisms during the establishment of HIV-1 latency with numerous experimental studies that strongly uphold the ongoing viral replication and persistence at the distinct anatomical reservoirs.