Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors reduce HIV-1 production from latently infected resting CD4⁺ T cells following latency reversal

Therapeutic strategies that target the latent HIV-1 reservoir in resting CD4⁺ T cells of infected individuals are always administered in the presence of combination antiretroviral therapy. Using a primary cell of HIV-1 latency, we evaluated whether different antiviral drug classes affected latency reversal (as assessed by extracellular virus production) by anti-CD3/CD28 monoclonal antibodies or bryostatin1. We found that the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors efavirenz and rilpivirine significantly decreased HIV-1 production, by ≥1 log.