Figure 4

HIV RNA levels in monocyte culture supernatants are associated with peripheral blood CD4 ⁺ cell counts. Monocytes isolated from HIV-infected subjects (n = 9) were cultured in vitro. Supernatants in six subjects produced low levels of productive viral particles. HIV-infected subjects were divided into two groups by CD4⁺ cell count around a median of 400 cells/μl. HIV RNA levels (viral load, logarithmically scaled) of each group are shown. The group with < 400 CD4⁺ cells/μl had higher HIV replication levels than the group of > 400 CD4⁺ cells/μl (^a p = 0.0323). Data was analyzed using an independent t test.