This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (3)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • HIV/AIDS  • Prognosis/ Outcomes  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: In a study reporting that plasma human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) RNA explains less than 10% of the variability in CD4 cell count slope in patients with untreated HIV-1 infection, Rodríguez et al¹ questioned viral replication as the main determinant of progressive immunodeficiency. That study did not include the clinically important outcomes of AIDS or death and did not provide data on variability of CD4 cell count slopes. We therefore evaluated the prognostic strength of HIV-1 RNA, CD4 cell count,^2-3 and CD4 cell count slope for clinical outcomes, as well as the variance of CD4 cell count slope.

Methods

The study population comprised 1640 HIV-seropositive participants in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS).⁴ Baseline was the earliest semiannual visit after the first seropositive visit at which plasma HIV-1 RNA and CD4 cell count were available. Measurement of HIV-1 RNA was obtained by reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR; Amplicor . . . [Full Text of this Article]

John W. Mellors, MD
mellors@dom.pitt.edu
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pa

Joseph B. Margolick, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Md

John P. Phair, MD
Northwestern University
Chicago, Ill

Charles R. Rinaldo, PhD
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pa

Roger Detels, MD, MS
University of California, Los Angeles

Lisa P. Jacobson, ScD; Alvaro Muñoz, PhD
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Md

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Human Leukocyte Antigen Class I Genotypes in Relation to Heterosexual HIV Type 1 Transmission within Discordant Couples
Tang et al.
J. Immunol. 2008;181:2626-2635.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

S-phase entry leads to cell death in circulating T cells from HIV-infected persons
Sieg et al.
J. Leukoc. Biol. 2008;83:1382-1387.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT