eprintid: 10053475 rev_number: 21 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/05/34/75 datestamp: 2018-07-31 12:04:15 lastmod: 2021-10-04 00:02:44 status_changed: 2018-07-31 12:04:15 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Mancini, E creators_name: Quax, R creators_name: De Luca, A creators_name: Fidler, S creators_name: Stohr, W creators_name: Sloot, PMA title: A study on the dynamics of temporary HIV treatment to assess the controversial outcomes of clinical trials: An in-silico approach ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C09 divisions: D65 divisions: J38 keywords: HIV, HIV infections, Immune response, Immune system, Viral load, Clinical trials, Lymph nodes, Lymphocytes note: © 2018 Mancini et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). abstract: It is still unclear under which conditions temporary combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) results in a prolonged remission after interruption. Clinical trials have contradicting reposts about the effect of cART during primary HIV infection on the disease progression. Here we propose that the apparent contradiction is due the presence of a window of opportunity for cART treatment observed in the in silico studies. We study non-linear correlations in the HIV dynamics over time using information theory. This approach requires a large dataset of CD4+ T lymphocytes and viral load concentrations over time. Since it is unfeasible to collect the required amount of data in clinical trials we use C-ImmSim, a clinically validated in silico model of the HIV infection, to simulate the HIV infection and temporary cART in 500 virtual patients for a period of 6 years post infection in time steps of 8 hours. We validate the results of our model with two published clinical trials of temporary cART in acute infection and analyse the impact of cART on the immune response. Our quantitative analysis predicts a “window of opportunity” of about ten months after the acute phase during which a temporary cART has significantly longer-lasting beneficial effects on the immune system as compared to treatment during the chronic phase. This window may help to explain the controversial outcomes of clinical trials that differ by the starting time and duration of the short-term course cART and provides a critical insight to develop appropriate protocols for future clinical trials. date: 2018-07-18 date_type: published official_url: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200892 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: Journal Article verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1571572 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200892 pii: PONE-D-17-34102 language_elements: English lyricists_name: Stohr, Wolfgang lyricists_id: WSTOH63 actors_name: Stohr, Wolfgang actors_id: WSTOH63 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: PLoS One volume: 13 number: 7 article_number: e0200892 event_location: United States issn: 1932-6203 citation: Mancini, E; Quax, R; De Luca, A; Fidler, S; Stohr, W; Sloot, PMA; (2018) A study on the dynamics of temporary HIV treatment to assess the controversial outcomes of clinical trials: An in-silico approach. PLoS One , 13 (7) , Article e0200892. 10.1371/journal.pone.0200892 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200892>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10053475/1/Stohr_A%20study%20on%20the%20dynamics%20of%20temporary%20HIV%20treatment%20to%20assess%20the%20controversial%20outcomes%20of%20clinical%20trials.%20An%20in-silico%20approach_VoR.pdf