FIG. 2.

Effect of primer selection on HIV RNA reduction following ART among 175 ART treatment-naïve Brazilians. HIV RNA reductions 24, 36, and 48 weeks after initiation of ART were significantly (P < 0.05) greater among GBV-C RNA-positive subjects than among GBV-C RNA-negative subjects when tested with either the E2 or 5′-NTR primer set and with the GS definition (see Materials and Methods). When GBV-C RNA was detected by the NS3 and NS5A primers (which yielded higher rates of false-positive results), a greater reduction in HIV RNA was also demonstrated; however, the results were no longer statistically significant at a P level of <0.05.