Prevention of Vaginal Shiv Transmission in Rhesus Macaques through Inhibition

mune compromise occurs very early in the diseases process. Of great importance is the failure of long-term ( 5 years) highly active retroviral therapy to reverse this sitespecific T-cell depletion. Additionally, other studies have demonstrated that HIV is consistently detectable in the intestine of HIV-infected patients, even those with no detectable plasma virus. Current therapies are inadequate for clearing the virus from the intestine, a major reservoir of HIV. New therapies aimed at the mucosal immune system will be required to address this issue. Finally, because the intestine is the earliest target for virus infection and T-cell loss, enhancing mucosal immunity will be critical for any vaccine strategy to be effective.