Quantification of viral DNA during HIV-1 infection: A review of relevant clinical uses and laboratory methods Quantification de l'ADN viral au cours de l'infection aVIH-1 : revue des utilisations cliniques pertinentes et des techniques de laboratoire

Effective antiretroviral therapy usually leads to undetectable HIV-1 RNA in the plasma. However, thevirus persists in some cells of infected patients as various DNA forms, both integrated and unintegrated.This reservoir represents the greatest challenge to the complete cure of HIV-1 infection and itscharacteristics highlyimpactthecourseofthedisease.ThequantificationofHIV-1DNAinbloodsamplesconstitutes currently the most practical approach to measure this residual infection. Real-timequantitative PCR (qPCR) is the most common method used for HIV-DNA quantification and manystrategies have been developed to measure the different forms of HIV-1 DNA. In the literature, several‘‘in-house’’ PCR methods have been used and there is a need for standardization to have comparableresults. In addition, qPCR is limited for the precise quantification of low levels by background noise.Among new assays in development, digital PCR was shown to allow an accurate quantification of HIV-1DNA. Total HIV-1 DNA is most commonly measured in clinical routine. The absolute quantification ofproviruses and unintegrated forms is more often used for research purposes. 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.