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TreatmentUpdate 70
Volume 8 Issue 6 1996 September Transfer factor for HIV
We report below on selected abstracts and posters from the XI International Conference on AIDS, which took place from July 7-12, 1996, in Vancouver. Most of the anti-HIV therapies reported here focus on the newer protease inhibitors indinavir, ritonavir and saquinavir, alone or in combination. All references are from the conference unless otherwise noted.
Background
For the past 40 years researchers have known that it is possible to "transfer" immunity against certain germs from a donor who is immune to those microbes to other people who do not have this immunity. The immune response that is transferred by means of what is called "transfer factor" helps T cells contain infections caused by certain "viruses, parasites, [bacteria] and fungi." The immune response is called CMI (cell-mediated immunity) and it is critical in fighting many of the infections seen in AIDS.
How transfer factor is made
To make transfer factor, healthy animals are injected with a particular microbe. Several weeks later white blood cells from the immunized animals are removed and processed to extract the transfer factor(s). The factor can then be given by injection to a person with weakened CMI. More recent experiments show that transfer factor can be given by mouth and successfully "transfer" CMI.
Transfer factor for HIV
Researchers in Italy injected HIV into mice to stimulate their white blood cells. Technicians extracted the transfer factor and gave it to 24 HIV-infected subjects who took it orally along with AZT. Twenty subjects had some symptoms of HIV infection but had not yet developed AIDS. The remaining 4 subjects had AIDS.
Results
Symptoms/signs of HIV infection were reduced or cleared in the 20 subjects without AIDS. In 12 of the 20 CMI was restored. In at least 5 of the 20, CD8+ cell counts increased as did production of the T cell growth factor IL-2. In two subjects, viral load was reduced to 1/10th of their pre-study levels. Two subjects with AIDS remain alive 3 to 4 years after receiving the transfer factor.
Reference:
1. Chiodo F, Raise F, Gritti F, et al. HIV-specific transfer factor. LB.B.6037.
Created on: 1996 September 6
Last Modified on: 1999 August 11 Author: Hosein SR
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