MEDICAL UPDATE: Immune-Boosting Therapies

MEDICAL UPDATE: Immune-Boosting Therapies

Being Alive; February 1992
Mark Katz, MD, reported by Warren Jones and Walt Senterfitt

Though there is no clear-cut novel agent as yet, a range of immune-boosting therapies are attracting more research attention, vaccine-type therapies in particular. The premise is that an inactivated version of HIV or some component part will, if injected under the right circumstances, stimulate the body to produce neutralizing antibodies against HIV and HIV infected cells. Many believe that the long latency period between infection and the emergence of significant immune suppression is related in part to the body's normal immune response which remains effective for a long period of time. Perhaps if that response, especially in earlier stages of infection, can be enhanced, it will be effective longer or even completely.

Dr. Sandy Levine of USC reported last June at an Update about the progress of the Salk Immunogen vaccine trials, now being continued in Philadelphia. The medical literature last summer carried interesting results about one genetically-engineered vaccine-like product, rgp160, tested at Walter Reed in Washington and in Montreal.

UCLA is about to begin Phase I trials of a new genetically-engineered product (of Genentech, Inc.) based on a different HIV component, the gp120 protein. The trial will initially be limited to those with a T-cell count above 500 and who have never taken AZT (they hope to do another version for under 500 as soon as data on safety from the first group are available). There will be five groups, each taking one of four different forms of the vaccine or a placebo, on a rotating basis. Not only safety but immunologic parameters will be monitored.
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