Viral load decreased by approximately 1 log during the first 2 weeks of recombinant IFN-α treatment irrespective of the levels of infection of CD4⁺ cells. (A) Viral load remained low for 5 weeks, but returned to pretreatment levels by day 42 of treatment. The nadir of viral load at day 14 was significantly lower than day −21 and day 0 (Friedman test with Dunn multiple comparisons). **P < .01; ***P < .001. (B) CD4⁺ peripheral blood cells were sorted from PBMCs using CD4-Ig–labeled magnetic beads. Viral load was determined by real-time PCR.