The Immunological effects of interleukin 2 therapy in HIV+ patients

• Authors: P. De_Paoli
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection produces a profound impairment of immune functions that antiretroviral therapy is unable to restore. Because of its immuno-enhancing properties, interleukin 2 (IL-2) has been used as a therapeutic tool in HIV+ subjects. IL-2 produces an increase of CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte absolute counts that is preferentially due to the expansion of the ?naive? cells. In addition, IL-2 increases cytokine production from the cells of the immune system and is able to up-regulate the expression of cytokine receptors, such as the chemokine receptors CCR-5 and CXCR-4. Less informations on the IL-2 activity on the CD8 subset are available at the moment. The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy has changed this scenario, making the IL-2 effects less clear-cut than previously hypothesized. We suggest that the ongoing studies will define the precise role of IL-2 in the therapy of HIV infection.

Keywords

EN

HIV INFECTION; IMMUNOLOGICAL FUNCTION; INTERLEUKIN; INTERLEUKIN-2; LYMPHOCYTE

Discipline

• IMMUNOLOGY: IMMUNOLOGY

• Publisher: Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis
• Year: 2000
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 243-249

Contributors

author

P. De_Paoli

• Document Type: REVIEW
• Publication order reference: P. De Paoli, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Virology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, IRCCS, Aviano, Italy