Minor Contribution of Chimeric Host-HIV Readthrough Transcripts to the Level of HIV Cell-Associated gag RNA

Cell-associated HIV unspliced RNA is an important marker of the viral reservoir. HIV gag RNA-specific assays are frequently used to monitor reservoir activation. Because HIV preferentially integrates into actively transcribed genes, some of the transcripts detected by these assays may not represent genuine HIV RNA but rather chimeric host-HIV readthrough transcripts. Here, we demonstrate that in HIV-infected patients on suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy, such host-derived transcripts do not significantly contribute to the HIV gag RNA level.