Current antiretroviral therapy allows the control of HIV replication but a relapse occurs most of the time in case of treatment interruption. The viral genome integration explains this persistence of HIV in all body tissues, at very variable levels depending on their density of CD4+ T-cells, HIV main target. Secondary lymphoid tissues are the most infected organs. Several techniques can be used to characterize the reservoir, detecting different forms of the virus. They are complementary to decipher the establishment of HIV reservoir during the primary infection and its dynamics afterwards. In peripheral blood, the earlier the initiation of treatment, the more important is the decrease in total HIV DNA. Early treatment prevents the progressive increase in stable integrated forms of HIV DNA and preserves immune cells from infection. A better understanding of HIV infection in controllers will also aid in the development of new therapeutic strategies targeting the reservoir.
Keywords: CD4 T-cell; HIV; acquired immune deficiency syndrome; cell reservoir; integrated HIV DNA; primary infection; provirus; tissue reservoir; total HIV DNA.