Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9495

HIV researchers say new analysis of patient data could help to shed light on the phenomenon known as ‘post-treatment control’, where the virus remains undetectable in some patients even after treatment is stopped.

Led by Dr John Frater, Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Institute for Emerging Infections, researchers at Oxford and the University of New South Wales, in collaboration with partner institutions in the UK, Brazil and Italy, analysed data from a patient trial where anti-retroviral therapy was interrupted at 48 weeks.

They found that the way patients’ immune systems initially responded to HIV infection could provide an indication of whether they might go on to achieve an extended period of remission following anti-retroviral therapy (ART).