Antiretroviral Therapy Fails to Restore Levels of HIV-1 Restriction miRNAs in PBMCs of HIV-1-infected MSM

A number of cellular microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified to have the ability to inhibit HIV-1 replication. In this study, we examined the impact of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) on the expression of HIV-1 restriction miRNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HIV-1–infected men who have sex with men (MSM). Compared with male healthy donors, HIV-infected MSM had significantly lower levels of 9 HIV-1 restriction miRNAs. The treatment of HIV-1–infected MSM with cART, however, failed to restore the levels of these miRNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These observations suggest that the suppression of the cellular restriction miRNAs by HIV-1 may attribute to the virus latency during cART.