Figure 1: Virological markers of HIV persistence before ART initiation.

Plasma viral load (A), frequency of CD4 cells harbouring total HIV DNA (B), integrated HIV DNA (C), and 2-LTR circles (D), and frequency of CD4 cells producing msRNA spontaneously (TILDA ex vivo) or after 12 h stimulation (E) in participants stratified by whether they received ART within 30 days or less (acute group; n=9), at 31–90 days (early group; n=14), or more than 24 weeks (deferred group; n=19) after the EDDI. (F) Correlation matrix between the virological markers of HIV persistence. In A–E, samples with undetectable levels of virological markers (ie, less than the lower limit of the detection of the assay, which can vary according to the number of cells analysed), were considered as 0 for statistical analyses and are indicated as open circles. In A–D, p values were derived from the Kruskal-Wallis test, and in E, p values were derived from the Wilcoxon test for paired samples. In F, r values from Spearman correlation test are indicated in the bottom left part of the matrix and are reflected by the colour of the ellipses in the top right (blue indicates a positive correlation and red indicates a negative correlation); the shape of the ellipsis reflects the level of significance (ie, a narrower ellipsis reflects a lower p value), which are also included in the upper part of the matrix. Only significant correlations are shown in F. ART=antiretroviral therapy. TILDA=tat/rev induced limiting dilution assay. msRNA=multiply-spliced RNA. 2-LTR=2-long terminal repeat. EDDI=estimated date of detectable infection.