Combination Therapy Restores T Cell Numbers In HIV-infected Individuals
Sunday, March 22, 2009 - 10:15
in Health & Medicine
CD4+ T cell depletion by HIV is a major blow to the immune system. Combination antiretroviral therapy (c-ART) restores the T cell population, however not all patients respond to this therapy. Researchers report that administration of interleukin-7 (IL-7) to c-ART--treated, HIV-infected patients with low T cell counts, boosted T cell numbers and was well tolerated for 48 weeks. HIV-infected patients may benefit from intermittent IL-7 therapy in combination with c-ART.