Clinical Value of IL-2 in HIV-Infected Patients

Results from a small proof-of-concept study were encouraging in patients with moderately advanced HIV disease, but the findings are too outdated to have any clinical application.

Interleukin 2 (IL-2) holds promise for HIV-infected patients because it can induce proliferation of CD4 cells and prolong their half-lives. Demonstrating a clinical benefit from such immunologic improvement, however, has been notoriously difficult because CD4-cell counts are least likely to rise in the patients that need the increases the most (i.e., those with CD4 counts <200 cells/mm³). Furthermore, IL-2 is associated with serious adverse effects.

In this prospective study, ACTG investigators evaluated the role of IL-2 among HIV-infected patients who, at enrollment, had CD4 counts between 50 and 350 cells/mm³ and were either treatment-naive or had received nucleoside-only therapy. All study participants were given two NRTIs plus unboosted …

Reviewing Author

Helmut Albrecht, MD

Clinical Value of IL-2 in HIV-Infected Patients

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Reviewing Author