Short communication: HIV type 2 dynamics.
To gain a better understanding of why HIV-2 is less virulent than HIV-1 the viral dynamics of HIV-2 were studied in two Swedish HIV-2-infected patients after starting antiretroviral therapy. Linear regression analysis of log virus levels in plasma showed that virus decline during the first 2 weeks of therapy followed an exponential decay with half-lives of 2.2 and 2.0 days, respectively. These half-life measurements reflect the decline in the number of cells actively producing the virus, but may represent an underestimation of the true turnover of HIV-2. In one patient, preliminary estimates of the first and second phase of virus decline (halflife 1.3 and 15 days, respectively) were made. The viral dynamics of HIV-2 infection are strikingly similar to those for HIV-1. Thus, HIV-1 and HIV-2 appear to have similar rates of production and clearance in vivo. Consequently, the large differences in plasma virus levels, virulence, and natural course of the disease between the two infections are due to other factors that are yet to be identified.