[Detection and quantification of HIV-1 provirus provides a prognostic marker for the therapy-monitoring].

: By the effective application of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the plasma HIV-1 RNA level can be dramatically suppressed to below the detectable level in a short period. As the amount of total HIV-1 DNA in peripheral CD4+ cells sharply decline in the first phase of the treatment in accordance with the decline of HIV-1 RNA, total HIV-1 DNA, mainly containing the unintegrated form, can be a useful marker for therapy-monitoring just as HIV-1 RNA. In the next phase, after the transcription and reverse transcription of HIV-1 are profoundly inhibited by continuing HAART, the mass of the latent HIV-1 reservoir can be quantified by measuring the amount of total HIV-1 DNA which mainly reflects the integrated HIV-1 provirus in this phase.