Toward an understanding of the correlates of protective immunity to HIV infection.

Considerable progress has been made recently in understanding the genetic, immunologic and virologic factors in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals who either rapidly progress or do not progress to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In addition, detection of HIV-specific immune responses in HIV-negative individuals who have been exposed to the virus multiple times suggests that natural immune responses to HIV may be protective in rare individuals. Understanding the correlates of protective immunity to HIV infection is critical to efforts to develop preventive HIV vaccines as well as to determine the feasibility of treating HIV infection by boosting immunity to HIV.