Abstract: The ability to monitor the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in patients is paramount to the study of HIV transmission, in predicting the onset and advancement of disease, and evaluating the clinical efficacy of therapeutics. Present methods available to the clinician for the study of HIV pathogenesis employ surrogate markers. Surrogate markers are biological indicators that tend to reflect, to varying extent, the gradual progression of the asymptomatic state to the development of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The most commonly used markers are CD4.sup.+ lymphocyte counts and HIV p24 antigen production. The use of markers to evaluate disease progression suffers from a number of limitations. No known marker consistently reflects disease progression in all patients and stages of disease. Moreover, an effective marker must rapidly reflect the changes associated with antiviral therapy.