Pilot Study of Raltegravir/Truvada Versus Efavirenz/Truvada for Adults With Acute IV-1 Infection

This is a single-site, investigator-initiated, open-label, randomized/controlled clinical trial to compare the viral load response in plasma (and, in a subset of subjects, in gastrointestinal lymphoid tissue reservoirs) in subjects with acute/early HIV-1 infection treated with 12 weeks of raltegravir-based versus efavirenz-based ART (each combined with tenofovir/emtricitabine). Subjects will receive a self-limited course of therapy rather than a commitment to life-long HAART, as has been the experimental approach in a variety of clinical protocols in the United States and Europe. Subjects will complete a 12 week course of therapy, and those who meet treatment-response and safety criteria will then undergo a similarly intensive period of virology and immunology monitoring to compare the timing and dynamics of any observed virologic rebound following the treatment intervention.