The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 07, 1997
Filed:
Jan. 31, 1994
Kalle M Saksela, New York, NY (US);
David Baltimore, New York, NY (US);
The Rockefeller University, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
This invention relates to the prognosis of outcome of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In particular, the present invention concerns monitoring individuals who are at risk for developing acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and individuals who are undergoing therapy for AIDS. The method for estimating the risk of the onset of a clinical event associated with infection with HIV broadly comprises evaluating the rate of HIV replication in peripheral blood cells from an individual suspected of suffering from HIV infection. More particularly, the method comprises determining the level of expression of HIV messenger RNA (mRNA) in peripheral blood cells of an asymptomatic individual. High level expression of HIV mRNA indicates a high likelihood of onset of symptoms of AIDS, and low level expression or determination of no detectable expression indicates a low likelihood of onset of symptoms of AIDS. In a specific embodiment, the level of HIV-1 mRNA, specifically multiply spliced (MS) and unspliced (US) HIV mRNA, is detected in peripheral blood cells from HIV-infected individuals, and the detection of high levels of HIV mRNA is predictive of the onset of clinical symptoms associated with disease progression, including the diagnosis of AIDS, a decrease in the number of CD4+ cells to below 500 CD4+ cells per mm.sup.3, and other clinical events. According to the invention, the onset of clinical AIDS generally occurs within about 2 years of the determination of high level expression of HIV mRNA, and the onset of clinical symptoms generally does not occur for at least about 5 years after the determination of no detectable expression of HIV mRNA.