RV9 (Nef)-specific T-cell responses were positively correlated with high viral set points (R = 0.857, P = 0.014) at 3 months of HIV-1 infection, negatively associated with CD4 T-cell counts (R =  − 0.814, P = 0.014) and positively correlated with high viral set points (R = 0.731, P = 0.040) at 1 year of HIV-1 infection (Fig. 4). This evidence concerns the gene CD4 and HIV-1 infection.