AEGiS-11IAC: CD8+ lymphocyte stimulation in HIV-infected patients.

11th International AIDS Conference


Vancouver, British Columbia — July 7-12, 1996

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CD8+ lymphocyte stimulation in HIV-infected patients.

Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:220 (abstract no. Th.B.173)
Ben Amar M, Morisset R, Poirier G, Ghadirian P; Research Center, Hotel-Dieu Hospital, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Fax: 514-843-2715.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the long-term effects of GSPH-1 on CD8+ lymphocytes and to determine if a correlation exists between CD8+ cell stimulation and the clinical status of patients.

METHODS: GSPH-1, an oral vegetal preparation, was administered to 10 HIV-infected subjects with CD4 counts ranging from 76 to 422 cells/mm3 at onset of treatment.

RESULTS: The group's increase of CD8+ lymphocytes is 29.60% after 6 months and 42.86% after 12 months of GSPH-1 therapy. Analysis of variance between times TO, T6 and T12 months illustrates the significance of this increase (F=4.90; p=0.02). Individually, 8 patients showed a significant elevation of their CD8+ cells after 6 months of therapy. After 12 months of treatment, this increase was still significant in 7 subjects and after 24 months of GSPH-1, it remained significant in 5 patients. These 5 subjects whose CD8+ cell stimulation was sustained in time showed the most clinical benefits: only a single opportunistic infection (a herpes zoster episode) occurred among one of them during the first 24 months of treatment. The prolonged stimulation of CD8+ cells seemed to require a threshold number of CD4+ cells. No side-effects were observed during the 24 months of GSPH-1 therapy.

CONCLUSIONS: GSPH-1 is a potent stimulant of CD8+ lymphocytes in HIV-infected patients. Persistent high levels of activated CD8+ cells are a strong predictor of extended survival and a key factor for a long asymptomatic phase in HIV-infected subjects. This immunostimulant approach might also be useful for the development of a vaccine.

Keywords: AEGIS, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Antigens, CD8, HIV, Lymphocyte Activation, CD4 Lymphocyte Count, HIV-1, HIV Infections, Anti-HIV Agents, Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte, Antigens, CD, Antigens, CD4, CD6 antigen, Human, immunology, ICA11KWDaegis,cd8-positivet-lymphocytes,antigens,cd8,hiv,lymphocyteactivation,cd4lymphocytecount,hiv-1,hivinfections,anti-hivagents,antigens,differentiation,t-lymphocyte,antigens,cd,antigens,cd4,cd6antigen,human,immunology,ica11

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ThB173

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