SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (SF) - TUESDAY July 26, 1988 Edition: FINAL Section: NEWS Page: A8 Word Count: 529
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

The drug is called dextran sulfate, and a report of the first limited trial in patients, showing that it appears to be safe, was presented in Stockholm last month by Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California at San Francisco.

Federal health officials had been delaying more extensive trials designed to determine whether the compound is effective in treating or preventing the symptoms of the lethal disease. However, Roberta Wong at San Francisco General's AIDS clinic confirmed yesterday that a new phase of the drug study will begin next month.

The new trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was given a "high priority" in November. It was finally approved last week after strong pressure both from organized advocates of AIDS patients and from congressmen during an April hearing of the House Subcommittee on Human Resources.

At least 60 patients across the country will be treated with varying doses of dextran sulfate for the next 28 weeks, Wong said. Doses will begin at relatively low levels. If there is evidence of improved effectiveness as the dosages are increased, Wong said, more patients will be added to the study.

When the human immunodeficiency virus, known as HIV, infects the body's white blood cells of the immune system, it causes many of the cells to clump together and inactivates them, thus preventing them from attacking the invading virus. The virus can also destroy the body's T-4 cells, which originate in the thymus gland and play a crucial role in mobilizing antibodies to fight off infection.

A report in the journal Science in April by scientists at the National Cancer Institute said that in laboratory tests, dextran sulfate prevented the HIV organism from attaching itself to cultures of T-4 cells from the human immune system, prevented the immune system's "scavenger cells" from clumping, and apparently suppressed the ability of HIV to reproduce in the test tube.

Later laboratory experiments also showed that the drug seems to be more powerful when it is combined with AZT, the only drug now approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for widespread use against AIDS.

In the new series of clinical trials, the effectiveness of dextran sulfate will be tested in patients with AIDS or AIDS-related complex as well as in others who are infected with the virus but have not yet developed symptoms. Abrams has said he plans later to test the ability of AZT, also known as ziduvodine, to increase the effectiveness of dextran sulfate.

The drug was developed 20 years ago by a Japanese chemical firm and has been widely used there as an anti-coagulant to prevent blood clots.

Since reports circulated on its possible effectiveness in delaying the more serious symptoms of AIDS, an estimated 3,000 AIDS patients in America have been buying it through friends, who bring supplies back from Tokyo. A month's supply of the tablets can cost up to $150, AIDS patients say.

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