Paradoxical CD4 decline on ART: a novel, rare and perplexing immunologic outcome

The goal of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is to suppress HIV-1-replication and reconstitute CD4-T-cells. Here, we report on HIV-infected individuals, who had a paradoxical decline in CD4-T-cells despite ART-mediated suppression of plasma HIV-1 load (plHIV-1). We defined such immunological outcome as extreme immune decline (EXID). Overall design: RNA-Seq of patient derived PBMC, 5 replicates of 5 different conditions.