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August 2006 Cover
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Recent research, most notably the SMART study,
has highlighted the potential risks of CD4-guided
HIV treatment interruptions. Some researchers have
hypothesized that these risks could be lessened
with the use of an
immune-boosting agent such as Interleukin-2 (IL
-2, aldesleukin). However, a recent AIDS Clinical
Trials Group pilot study by Keith Henry
et al appears to refute this idea. In this
randomized, prospective study, which appears in
the
June 2006 issue of JAIDS, 47 patients
interrupted treatment after achieving a viral load
below 200 copies/ml and a CD4+ cell count of 500
or higher. Treatment was restarted when a patient's
CD4+ cell count dropped below
350. The study found that the use of IL-2 prior to
interruption
did not elongate the period of time
between treatment discontinuation and treatment
re-initiation. The study did note, however, that the
stop-at-500,
restart-at-350 strategy itself generally appeared to
be safe for enrolled patients, with most patients
going more than a year without having to restart
treatment.
Editor's Note: from www.thebodypro.com
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