Analytical treatment interruption in HIV-infected individuals: clinical perspectives

Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) has improved the clinical outcome for HIV-infected individuals, persistence of viral reservoirs remains a hurdle to complete eradication of virus. The inability of ART to clear infected cells inevitably leads to plasma viral rebound following cessation of therapy in the vast majority of those infected with the virus. Considering current treatment research has been heavily focused on developing strategies aimed at achieving sustained virologic remission in the absence of ART, it is of crucial importance to evaluate the impact of analytical treatment interruption on immunologic and virologic parameters. Given plasma viremia remains the only clinically relevant measure of efficacy; analytical treatment interruption plays an essential role in the design of clinical trials.