gp120 HIV Vaccine Does Not Delay Disease Progression

Results from the first placebo-controlled HIV-vaccine efficacy trial (VAX004) demonstrated that a recombinant glycoprotein 120 vaccine did not protect against HIV infection (J Infect Dis 2005; 191:654). The rate of HIV incidence during the trial was 6.7% among vaccine recipients and 7.0% among placebo recipients, a nonsignificant difference. In the present analysis, researchers followed 347 of the trial subjects who became infected to determine whether the vaccine delayed HIV disease progression (a secondary objective of the trial). Although the vaccine was not designed to generate cellular immune responses aimed at reducing disease progression, most vaccine recipients experienced a proliferation of CD4 lymphocytes, which has been shown in …