Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - Wednesday, October 30, 1996.
Last year, doctors from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases reported that regular injections of interleukin 2 can boost the body's production of blood cells that are a primary target of HIV.
Now, in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, the team has duplicated the findings in a more rigorous comparison study in a larger group of patients.
Donna E. Shalala, secretary of health and human services, called the report "new evidence that our national investment in AIDS research is paying off."
Despite the encouraging findings, doctors have yet to prove that the treatment actually helps people live longer or reduces the risk of AIDS complications. A study to investigate that is planned.
The latest study was conducted by Dr. Joseph A. Kovacs and colleagues on 60 HIV-infected people. All of the participants got standard anti-AIDS drugs, and half also received interleukin 2, or IL-2.
After one year, the IL-2 patients' helper T cells had doubled from 428 to 916 cells per cubic millimeter of blood. In the comparison group, levels fell from 406 to 349.
Side effects included flu-like symptoms and headaches, although these were not as severe as had been seen in earlier experiments with the drug.
The IL-2 used in the study is produced by Chiron Corp. and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating kidney cancer.
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