Expression of PD-L1, a marker of disease status, is not reduced by HAART in aviraemic patients.

Anergy and defective immune responses are characteristic of chronic HIV-1 infection. The programmed death 1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) pathway appears to be involved in downregulating T-cell functionality. We found raised levels of PD-L1 in aviraemic chronically infected HIV-1-positive patients, which may contribute to incomplete immune reconstitution after treatment with HAART.