Efficacy of a Four Arms Controlled Trial of Antivirals and Interleukin-2 in Drug Experienced HIV-1 Positive Individuals with CD4 Counts 200–500 Cells/mm³

Abstract

The results of numerous controlled randomized studies, viewed in aggregate, conclusively demonstrate the ability of interleukin-2 (IL-2) to produce impressive and sustained increases in CD4+ cell counts in HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy. The bulk of the supporting data is derived from studies employing subcutaneous (SC) or continuos intravenous infusion (CIV) IL-2 given intermittently, generally for five days in cycle lengths of eight weeks duration. Therefore, immune reconstitution by administration of exogenous recombinant IL-2 seems to be a suitable approach for therapy of HIV infection, particularly in combination with protease inhibitors (PI), that are powerful controllers of viral replication.