CD4 and HIV-1 infection: The rationale of this change was based upon our previous experience and the results of an unpublished work describing the benefits of protease inhibitors in the restoration of the CD4 count when compared to non-nucleoside analogs (Riddler SA, Haubrich R, DiRienzo G, et al. A prospective, randomized, phase III trial of NRTI-, PI-, and NNRTI-sparing regimens for initial treatment of HIV-1 infection: ACTG 5142.