Re: Il-2 and low T-cells

July 21, 2006

I can assure you that Interleukin-2 is as effective in people with low T cell counts as it is in people with high or medium T cell counts. This is true when using 7.33 mu of Interleukin-2 once a day for 3 days, every other month.

Always have Indocin-SR available to use as an anti-inflammatory. Many have tried substitutes and have not been happy with the results.

People with low T cell counts will see a more dramatic percentage increase in T cell count than will people with higher T cell counts

Interleukin-2 increases the number of both naive and memory T cells, especially increasing the percentage of naive cells which is important to restored immunity. Interleukin-2 also increases the number and percentage of T Regulatory cells and most importantly, Interleukin-2 increases the percentage and number of CNAR T8 cells - the immune cells which control HIV.

Doctors without much experience with Interleukin-2 will sometimes make up completely false "facts" to try to justify their lack of experience - its human nature.

>> I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?>

July 21, 2006

I can assure you that Interleukin-2 is as effective in people with low T cell counts as it is in people with high or medium T cell counts. This is true when using 7.33 mu of Interleukin-2 once a day for 3 days, every other month.

Always have Indocin-SR available to use as an anti-inflammatory. Many have tried substitutes and have not been happy with the results.

People with low T cell counts will see a more dramatic percentage increase in T cell count than will people with higher T cell counts

Interleukin-2 increases the number of both naive and memory T cells, especially increasing the percentage of naive cells which is important to restored immunity. Interleukin-2 also increases the number and percentage of T Regulatory cells and most importantly, Interleukin-2 increases the percentage and number of CNAR T8 cells - the immune cells which control HIV.

Doctors without much experience with Interleukin-2 or other new tretaments will sometimes make up completely false "facts" to try to justify their position and lack of experience - its human nature. But at the same time, you might be better served by a Doctor who has more experience with Interleukin-2 therapy. Your Doctor may legally give you a face-lift, but if he has never performed this surgery before, he may not be your best choice.

>> I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?>

July 21, 2006

I can assure you that Interleukin-2 is as effective in people with low T cell counts as it is in people with high or medium T cell counts. This is true when using 7.33 mu of Interleukin-2 once a day for 3 days, every other month.

Always have Indocin-SR available to use as an anti-inflammatory. Many have tried substitutes and have not been happy with the results.

People with low T cell counts will see a more dramatic percentage increase in T cell count than will people with higher T cell counts

Interleukin-2 increases the number of both naive and memory T cells, especially increasing the percentage of naive cells which is important to restored immunity. Interleukin-2 also increases the number and percentage of T Regulatory cells and most importantly, Interleukin-2 increases the percentage and number of CNAR T8 cells - the immune cells which control HIV.

People, including Doctors can sometimes make the mistake of trying to justify justify their lack of experience with "facts" they just made up. They may even imagine they actually heard it someplace - or maybe they did hear it from someone a friend who made up the false information to try to look impressive - its human nature.

You may find yourself better served by a Doctor who has more experience with Interleukin-2 and knows the facts.

>> I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?>

July 21, 2006

I can assure you that Interleukin-2 is as effective in people with low T cell counts as it is in people with high or medium T cell counts. This is true when using 7.33 mu of Interleukin-2 once a day for 3 days, every other month.

Always have Indocin-SR available to use as an anti-inflammatory. Many have tried substitutes and have not been happy with the results.

People with low T cell counts will see a more dramatic percentage increase in T cell count than will people with higher T cell counts

Interleukin-2 increases the number of both naive and memory T cells, especially increasing the percentage of naive cells which is important to restored immunity. Interleukin-2 also increases the number and percentage of T Regulatory cells and most importantly, Interleukin-2 increases the percentage and number of CNAR T8 cells - the immune cells which control HIV.

People, including Doctors can sometimes make the mistake of trying to justify justify their lack of experience with "facts" they just made up. They may even imagine they actually heard it someplace - or maybe they did hear it from someone a friend who made up the false information to try to look impressive - its human nature.

You may find yourself better served by a Doctor who has more experience with Interleukin-2 and knows the facts.

>> I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?>

July 21, 2006

I can assure you that Interleukin-2 is as effective in people with low T cell counts as it is in people with high or medium T cell counts. This is true when using 7.33 mu of Interleukin-2 once a day for 3 days, every other month.

Always have Indocin-SR available to use as an anti-inflammatory. Many have tried substitutes and have not been happy with the results.

People with low T cell counts will see a more dramatic percentage increase in T cell count than will people with higher T cell counts

Interleukin-2 increases the number of both naive and memory T cells, especially increasing the percentage of naive cells which is important to restored immunity. Interleukin-2 also increases the number and percentage of T Regulatory cells and most importantly, Interleukin-2 increases the percentage and number of CNAR T8 cells - the immune cells which control HIV.

People, including Doctors can sometimes make the mistake of trying to justify justify their lack of experience with "facts" they just made up. They may even imagine they actually heard it someplace - or maybe they did hear it from someone a friend who made up the false information to try to look impressive - its human nature.

You may find yourself better served by a Doctor who has more experience with Interleukin-2 and knows the facts.

>> I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?>

July 21, 2006

Thanks for your input.

In many early studies people were afraid to give normal doses of Interleukin-2 to people with advanced HIV. So studies used amusingly low doses with predictably low results. Can you just imagine some researcher giving very sick people with HIV antivirals at 1/10 of the normal dose - and then concluding that the results of antiviral use in people with advanced HIV are very disappointing. People often find what you're looking for.

Long before the era of more effective antivirals, my first Doctor used the same dose of Interleukin-2 for people with T cell counts under 20 that he used for people with higher T cell counts - and percentage wise the results were greater in those with lower T cell counts. In time their T cell counts rebounded to normal, just as those with higher T cell counts did.

But here's a press release which deals with "that idea out there" that Interleukin-2 is just not for people with advanced HIV and they'll just have to accept their fate.

http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2000/actg328.htm

National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases (NIAID)http://www.niaid.nih.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, Oct. 25, 2000

Media Contact:Laurie K. Doepel

niaidnews@...

Interleukin-2 May Help Patients With Advanced HIV Disease, New Study Shows

Interleukin-2 (IL-2), an immune system protein, has been shown to increase the number of CD4+ T cells in many people with HIV infection. Studies conducted before the era of potent antiretroviral therapy, however, suggested IL-2 was less effective in patients with very low levels of these cells, which HIV destroys. Now the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) reports that IL-2 can increase the CD4+ T-cell levels in these patients if other drugs have already reduced the level of HIV in the blood. The study, known as ACTG 328, is the largest randomized study of IL-2 completed in advanced HIV patients to date. The results will be presented Wednesday, October 25, by lead investigator Mitsuyasu, M.D., of the University of California at Los Angeles, at the 5th International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection in Glasgow, Scotland. "Because patients with very low CD4+ T-cell levels are those at greatest risk of quickly developing opportunistic illness, they might show the most immediate benefit from IL-2's T-cell-boosting properties," says Lawrence Fox, M.D., Ph.D., medical officer in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Division of AIDS, which funds the ACTG. "For these patients this is very good news."IL-2 is a protein best known for its ability to stimulate T cells to multiply. Before multi-drug AIDS cocktails became the standard of care, however, studies of IL-2 showed little promise in people with extremely low CD4+ T-cell counts. They rarely benefited from IL-2 and often had severe toxic reactions to the treatment. Highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is now the most effective tool for treating people infected with HIV. HAART uses a combination of drugs to directly attack the virus and reduce its levels in the blood. Recently, NIAID reported the results of CPCRA 059, the largest study to date on the effects of IL-2 in conjunction with HAART for treating HIV infections. The results of that trial supported the safety and efficacy of IL-2, but the trial did not include people with CD4+ T-cell counts below 350 cells per cubic millimeter (mm3). In the ACTG study, Dr. Mitsuyasu, director of UCLA's Clinical AIDS Research and Education Center, led a team to determine how people with low levels of CD4+ T cells (50-350 cells/mm3) would respond to IL-2 therapy if administered after HAART. Two-hundred-four individuals were treated with HAART for 12 weeks. Those patients whose viral load dropped dramatically continued to receive HAART with or without a laboratory-synthesized (recombinant) form of IL-2. Recombinant IL-2 was administered either intravenously or under the skin, and individuals received the drug for five-day periods every eight weeks for up to 84 weeks. Dr. Mitsuyasu will report on data to 60 weeks.The patients receiving recombinant IL-2 had significant increases in CD4+ T-cell counts when compared with those receiving HAART alone. While HAART produced a median increase of 97 cells/mm3, the addition of intravenous or subcutaneous IL-2 resulted in median increases of 309 and 240 cells/mm3, respectively. In addition, individuals who received IL-2 did not suffer from the severe toxic reactions that plagued many with low CD4+ T-cell levels in earlier, pre-HAART era studies. Finally, IL-2 did not appear to trigger an increase in viral load when it stimulated the T cells.This study demonstrates that HAART followed by IL-2 regimens can significantly increase levels of CD4+ T cells in patients severely depleted of such cells, and can usually do so with minimal adverse effects. These results offer promise to the sickest of HIV patients by providing a way to partially reconstitute the immune system by increasing the CD4+ T-cell pool.This study also helps lay the groundwork for two ongoing major Phase III trials assessing the clinical outcomes of IL-2 treatment for HIV. NIAID's ESPRIT trial will enroll 4,000 patients and involves 227 sites in 20 countries. The SILCAAT trial, conducted by Chiron Corporation, will enroll 1,400 patients at 100 sites in eight countries. The two trials focus on patients with different starting CD4+ T-cell levels. For more information on the ESPRIT trial contact .

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health(NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.

>> In some early IL-2 studies, *better* increases were shown in people who> started with higher T-cell levels. However, people at any starting level did> get increases.> > Bob Munk> > Il-2 and low T-cells> > I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?> > > > > > > > > > > Welcome to our PozHealth group!> If you received this email from someone who forwarded it to you and would> like to join this group, send a blank email to> PozHealth-subscribe and you will get an email with> instructions to follow. You can chose to receive single emails or a daily> digest (collection of emails). You can post pictures, images, attach files> and search by keyword old postings in the group.> > For those of you who are members already and want to switch from single> emails to digest or vice versa, visit www.yahoogroups.com, click on> PozHealth, then on "edit my membership" and go down to your selection. The> list administrator does not process any requests, so this is a> do-it-yourself easy process ! > Thanks for joining. You will learn and share a lot in this group!> > NOTE: I moderate, approve or disapprove emails before they are posted.> Please follow the guidelines shown in the homepage. I will not allow> rudeness, sexually explicit material, attacks, and anyone who does not> follow the rules. If you are not OK with this, please do not join the group.> > > Forward this email to anyone who may benefit from this information! Thanks!> In Health,> > Vergel (PoWeRTX@...)> List Founder and Moderator> >

July 21, 2006

Thanks for your input.

In many early studies people were afraid to give normal doses of Interleukin-2 to people with advanced HIV. So studies used amusingly low doses with predictably low results. Can you just imagine some researcher giving very sick people with HIV antivirals at 1/10 of the normal dose - and then concluding that the results of antiviral use in people with advanced HIV are very disappointing. People often find what you're looking for.

Long before the era of more effective antivirals, my first Doctor used the same dose of Interleukin-2 for people with T cell counts under 20 that he used for people with higher T cell counts - and percentage wise the results were greater in those with lower T cell counts. In time their T cell counts rebounded to normal, just as those with higher T cell counts did.

But here's a press release which deals with "that idea out there" that Interleukin-2 is just not for people with advanced HIV and they'll just have to accept their fate.

http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2000/actg328.htm

National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases (NIAID)http://www.niaid.nih.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, Oct. 25, 2000

Media Contact:Laurie K. Doepel

niaidnews@...

Interleukin-2 May Help Patients With Advanced HIV Disease, New Study Shows

Interleukin-2 (IL-2), an immune system protein, has been shown to increase the number of CD4+ T cells in many people with HIV infection. Studies conducted before the era of potent antiretroviral therapy, however, suggested IL-2 was less effective in patients with very low levels of these cells, which HIV destroys. Now the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) reports that IL-2 can increase the CD4+ T-cell levels in these patients if other drugs have already reduced the level of HIV in the blood. The study, known as ACTG 328, is the largest randomized study of IL-2 completed in advanced HIV patients to date. The results will be presented Wednesday, October 25, by lead investigator Mitsuyasu, M.D., of the University of California at Los Angeles, at the 5th International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection in Glasgow, Scotland. "Because patients with very low CD4+ T-cell levels are those at greatest risk of quickly developing opportunistic illness, they might show the most immediate benefit from IL-2's T-cell-boosting properties," says Lawrence Fox, M.D., Ph.D., medical officer in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Division of AIDS, which funds the ACTG. "For these patients this is very good news."IL-2 is a protein best known for its ability to stimulate T cells to multiply. Before multi-drug AIDS cocktails became the standard of care, however, studies of IL-2 showed little promise in people with extremely low CD4+ T-cell counts. They rarely benefited from IL-2 and often had severe toxic reactions to the treatment. Highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is now the most effective tool for treating people infected with HIV. HAART uses a combination of drugs to directly attack the virus and reduce its levels in the blood. Recently, NIAID reported the results of CPCRA 059, the largest study to date on the effects of IL-2 in conjunction with HAART for treating HIV infections. The results of that trial supported the safety and efficacy of IL-2, but the trial did not include people with CD4+ T-cell counts below 350 cells per cubic millimeter (mm3). In the ACTG study, Dr. Mitsuyasu, director of UCLA's Clinical AIDS Research and Education Center, led a team to determine how people with low levels of CD4+ T cells (50-350 cells/mm3) would respond to IL-2 therapy if administered after HAART. Two-hundred-four individuals were treated with HAART for 12 weeks. Those patients whose viral load dropped dramatically continued to receive HAART with or without a laboratory-synthesized (recombinant) form of IL-2. Recombinant IL-2 was administered either intravenously or under the skin, and individuals received the drug for five-day periods every eight weeks for up to 84 weeks. Dr. Mitsuyasu will report on data to 60 weeks.The patients receiving recombinant IL-2 had significant increases in CD4+ T-cell counts when compared with those receiving HAART alone. While HAART produced a median increase of 97 cells/mm3, the addition of intravenous or subcutaneous IL-2 resulted in median increases of 309 and 240 cells/mm3, respectively. In addition, individuals who received IL-2 did not suffer from the severe toxic reactions that plagued many with low CD4+ T-cell levels in earlier, pre-HAART era studies. Finally, IL-2 did not appear to trigger an increase in viral load when it stimulated the T cells.This study demonstrates that HAART followed by IL-2 regimens can significantly increase levels of CD4+ T cells in patients severely depleted of such cells, and can usually do so with minimal adverse effects. These results offer promise to the sickest of HIV patients by providing a way to partially reconstitute the immune system by increasing the CD4+ T-cell pool.This study also helps lay the groundwork for two ongoing major Phase III trials assessing the clinical outcomes of IL-2 treatment for HIV. NIAID's ESPRIT trial will enroll 4,000 patients and involves 227 sites in 20 countries. The SILCAAT trial, conducted by Chiron Corporation, will enroll 1,400 patients at 100 sites in eight countries. The two trials focus on patients with different starting CD4+ T-cell levels. For more information on the ESPRIT trial contact .

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health(NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.

>> In some early IL-2 studies, *better* increases were shown in people who> started with higher T-cell levels. However, people at any starting level did> get increases.> > Bob Munk> > Il-2 and low T-cells> > I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?> > > > > > > > > > > Welcome to our PozHealth group!> If you received this email from someone who forwarded it to you and would> like to join this group, send a blank email to> PozHealth-subscribe and you will get an email with> instructions to follow. You can chose to receive single emails or a daily> digest (collection of emails). You can post pictures, images, attach files> and search by keyword old postings in the group.> > For those of you who are members already and want to switch from single> emails to digest or vice versa, visit www.yahoogroups.com, click on> PozHealth, then on "edit my membership" and go down to your selection. The> list administrator does not process any requests, so this is a> do-it-yourself easy process ! > Thanks for joining. You will learn and share a lot in this group!> > NOTE: I moderate, approve or disapprove emails before they are posted.> Please follow the guidelines shown in the homepage. I will not allow> rudeness, sexually explicit material, attacks, and anyone who does not> follow the rules. If you are not OK with this, please do not join the group.> > > Forward this email to anyone who may benefit from this information! Thanks!> In Health,> > Vergel (PoWeRTX@...)> List Founder and Moderator> >

July 21, 2006

Thanks for your input.

In many early studies people were afraid to give normal doses of Interleukin-2 to people with advanced HIV. So studies used amusingly low doses with predictably low results. Can you just imagine some researcher giving very sick people with HIV antivirals at 1/10 of the normal dose - and then concluding that the results of antiviral use in people with advanced HIV are very disappointing. People often find what you're looking for.

Long before the era of more effective antivirals, my first Doctor used the same dose of Interleukin-2 for people with T cell counts under 20 that he used for people with higher T cell counts - and percentage wise the results were greater in those with lower T cell counts. In time their T cell counts rebounded to normal, just as those with higher T cell counts did.

But here's a press release which deals with "that idea out there" that Interleukin-2 is just not for people with advanced HIV and they'll just have to accept their fate.

http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2000/actg328.htm

National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases (NIAID)http://www.niaid.nih.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, Oct. 25, 2000

Media Contact:Laurie K. Doepel

niaidnews@...

Interleukin-2 May Help Patients With Advanced HIV Disease, New Study Shows

Interleukin-2 (IL-2), an immune system protein, has been shown to increase the number of CD4+ T cells in many people with HIV infection. Studies conducted before the era of potent antiretroviral therapy, however, suggested IL-2 was less effective in patients with very low levels of these cells, which HIV destroys. Now the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) reports that IL-2 can increase the CD4+ T-cell levels in these patients if other drugs have already reduced the level of HIV in the blood. The study, known as ACTG 328, is the largest randomized study of IL-2 completed in advanced HIV patients to date. The results will be presented Wednesday, October 25, by lead investigator Mitsuyasu, M.D., of the University of California at Los Angeles, at the 5th International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection in Glasgow, Scotland. "Because patients with very low CD4+ T-cell levels are those at greatest risk of quickly developing opportunistic illness, they might show the most immediate benefit from IL-2's T-cell-boosting properties," says Lawrence Fox, M.D., Ph.D., medical officer in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Division of AIDS, which funds the ACTG. "For these patients this is very good news."IL-2 is a protein best known for its ability to stimulate T cells to multiply. Before multi-drug AIDS cocktails became the standard of care, however, studies of IL-2 showed little promise in people with extremely low CD4+ T-cell counts. They rarely benefited from IL-2 and often had severe toxic reactions to the treatment. Highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is now the most effective tool for treating people infected with HIV. HAART uses a combination of drugs to directly attack the virus and reduce its levels in the blood. Recently, NIAID reported the results of CPCRA 059, the largest study to date on the effects of IL-2 in conjunction with HAART for treating HIV infections. The results of that trial supported the safety and efficacy of IL-2, but the trial did not include people with CD4+ T-cell counts below 350 cells per cubic millimeter (mm3). In the ACTG study, Dr. Mitsuyasu, director of UCLA's Clinical AIDS Research and Education Center, led a team to determine how people with low levels of CD4+ T cells (50-350 cells/mm3) would respond to IL-2 therapy if administered after HAART. Two-hundred-four individuals were treated with HAART for 12 weeks. Those patients whose viral load dropped dramatically continued to receive HAART with or without a laboratory-synthesized (recombinant) form of IL-2. Recombinant IL-2 was administered either intravenously or under the skin, and individuals received the drug for five-day periods every eight weeks for up to 84 weeks. Dr. Mitsuyasu will report on data to 60 weeks.The patients receiving recombinant IL-2 had significant increases in CD4+ T-cell counts when compared with those receiving HAART alone. While HAART produced a median increase of 97 cells/mm3, the addition of intravenous or subcutaneous IL-2 resulted in median increases of 309 and 240 cells/mm3, respectively. In addition, individuals who received IL-2 did not suffer from the severe toxic reactions that plagued many with low CD4+ T-cell levels in earlier, pre-HAART era studies. Finally, IL-2 did not appear to trigger an increase in viral load when it stimulated the T cells.This study demonstrates that HAART followed by IL-2 regimens can significantly increase levels of CD4+ T cells in patients severely depleted of such cells, and can usually do so with minimal adverse effects. These results offer promise to the sickest of HIV patients by providing a way to partially reconstitute the immune system by increasing the CD4+ T-cell pool.This study also helps lay the groundwork for two ongoing major Phase III trials assessing the clinical outcomes of IL-2 treatment for HIV. NIAID's ESPRIT trial will enroll 4,000 patients and involves 227 sites in 20 countries. The SILCAAT trial, conducted by Chiron Corporation, will enroll 1,400 patients at 100 sites in eight countries. The two trials focus on patients with different starting CD4+ T-cell levels. For more information on the ESPRIT trial contact .

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health(NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.

>> In some early IL-2 studies, *better* increases were shown in people who> started with higher T-cell levels. However, people at any starting level did> get increases.> > Bob Munk> > Il-2 and low T-cells> > I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued. > Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-> line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up. > I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about > Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work > for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me. > Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do > to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral > loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores > in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening > often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells > to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements? > Anything?> > > > > > > > > > > Welcome to our PozHealth group!> If you received this email from someone who forwarded it to you and would> like to join this group, send a blank email to> PozHealth-subscribe and you will get an email with> instructions to follow. You can chose to receive single emails or a daily> digest (collection of emails). You can post pictures, images, attach files> and search by keyword old postings in the group.> > For those of you who are members already and want to switch from single> emails to digest or vice versa, visit www.yahoogroups.com, click on> PozHealth, then on "edit my membership" and go down to your selection. The> list administrator does not process any requests, so this is a> do-it-yourself easy process ! > Thanks for joining. You will learn and share a lot in this group!> > NOTE: I moderate, approve or disapprove emails before they are posted.> Please follow the guidelines shown in the homepage. I will not allow> rudeness, sexually explicit material, attacks, and anyone who does not> follow the rules. If you are not OK with this, please do not join the group.> > > Forward this email to anyone who may benefit from this information! Thanks!> In Health,> > Vergel (PoWeRTX@...)> List Founder and Moderator> >

July 21, 2006

Il-2 will raise t cell counts at all stages of HIV disease.You will not see articles suggesting decreases in opportunistic infections or other markers of actual clinical benefit, because they don't exist.The best Clifford Lane, the expert on IL-2 has suggested is a "statisically insignificant tendancy to clinical benefit." Similar statements have resulted in other investigators getting doused with blood. Barrowpozbod@...

July 21, 2006

Il-2 will raise t cell counts at all stages of HIV disease.You will not see articles suggesting decreases in opportunistic infections or other markers of actual clinical benefit, because they don't exist.The best Clifford Lane, the expert on IL-2 has suggested is a "statisically insignificant tendancy to clinical benefit." Similar statements have resulted in other investigators getting doused with blood. Barrowpozbod@...

July 21, 2006

At 02:12 AM 7/21/2006, Berube wrote:

>I have been reading the postings about Il-2 and have been intrigued.

>Since my diagnosis in '91 I have had a very low T-cell count (base-

>line 83 and never going higher than 148) and they don't want to go up.

>I am on viread, trizivir and kaletra. I spoke to my doctor today about

>Il-2 to try to rebuild my T-cells and was told that Il-2 does not work

>for people with a low T-cell count. Somehow this sounds funny to me.

>Is this want the research shows and if so is there anything I can do

>to help my T-cells go up? I have a long history of undetectable viral

>loads and that remains true but lately I have been getting cankersores

>in my mouth, numerous ones at the same time, and it is happening

>often. I feel as if this is because I have no effective memory cells

>to fight off this kind of infection. What can I do? Supplements?

>Anything?

You know, it's very fair to ask your physician on what data or information

he bases his opinion. After all, they're PAID HUGE amounts to do this work.

And half the time, I think they're talking out their ass without doing the

research. See one citation below that contradicts this physician's claim.

In this case, he is thinking of older research looking at lower CD4 counts

where there WAS a detectable viral load and with a low CD4 count, this just

gave fuel to the HIV fire. You might not get the immediate and strong bang

someone with a higher CD4 count could get--but it might start to push you

over 200 and over repeated cycles, reasonable doses, using indocin--you

will probably see improvements. I think it is worth a try too.

For the canker sores, I'd say try acyclovir (Zovirax). And it SHOULD be

treated.

You can also try lysine for that.

For general immune function, I think there is a basic protocol of

supplements that can help that include a good nutrition, multivitamin, NAC,

alpha lipoic, whey proteins, acidophilus as a good basis.

M.

***

Marchetti G, Franzetti F, Gori A. Partial immune reconstitution following

highly active antiretroviral therapy: can adjuvant interleukin-2 fill the

gap? J Antimicrob Chemother. 2005 Apr;55(4):401-9. Epub 2005 Feb 24.

Institute of Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine, University of Milan,

'Luigi Sacco' Hospital, Milan, Italy. giulia.marchetti@...

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) induces a substantial control

of HIV viral replication, but it allows for only a partial immune

reconstitution, thus prompting the rationale for the adjuvant use of

immunomodulants. Based on its in vitro action as a major T cell growth

factor, interleukin (IL)-2 has now been extensively investigated for its

potential to correct the HIV-driven immune deficiencies, possibly

translating into immunological control over HIV infection. Specific

immunological end points have thus far been addressed within extensive

Phase I/II trials, disclosing a broad insight into several aspects of the

IL-2-mediated immune reconstitution allowing for interesting clinical

speculation. Indeed, preliminary results indicate that adjuvant IL-2

induces a significant CD4 cell rescue in patients with no immune recovery

following long-term HAART, thus standing as a valid and safe therapeutic

option for these patients. Furthermore, in these patients, the

IL-2-mediated immune reconstitution is characterized by a rise in both

peripheral turnover and de novo T cell synthesis, with reversion of the

skewed HIV-driven immunophenotypic pattern, a substantial increase in IL-7

production and in several markers of immune function. Combined, these

findings indicate IL-2 has a beneficial effect in correcting the severe

disruption in T cell homeostasis induced by HIV, through the interaction

with T cells and cytokine microenvironment. However, whether or not these

immunological effects translate into an actual immunological competency and

therefore clinical benefit, still awaits demonstration from ongoing large,

controlled clinical studies.

July 22, 2006

J. B.

I know from experience that people who are very sick, due to having a failing immune system, get well within a couple of days when given new uninfected T-cells, but this benefit only lasts for about 30 days until these new T cells become inactivated from HIV GP120, as shown in Jay Levy's many experiments.

It doesn't matter if these new T cells were grown up with Interleukin-2 in the lab on a glass plate, or if they were grown up with Interleukin-2 in your body. Injecting 7.33 mu of Interleukin-2 every day for three days, once a month kept a lot of people free from their previous opportunistic infections - just as a number of wealthy people were able to remain healthy from infusions of their T cells grown up on glass plates with Interleukin-2.

Friends you know, like myself and Lee, who have consistently used Interleukin-2 for the past twelve years have never wasted, have normal T4 count and percent, and are perfectly healthy. You have to decide who you're going to believe - the negative scraps of opinion developed by those who used the wrong protocols or your own lying eyes. May I suggest that your own lying eyes are not as unreliable as you believe them to be.

Today we have more effective antivirals such as protease inhibitors. They provide both positives and negatives.

On the positive side, there is less HIV GP-120 around to inactivate new T cells. This means that people like myself can use Interleukin-2 every other month or every third month to achieve the same results.

One the negative side, many HIV drugs, including all protease inhibitors, block the creation of immune cells specifically targeted against HIV (T regulatory and CNAR T8 cells). This is true whether the viral load is undetectable or still quite elevated. Interleukin-2 can correct one of these drug induced defects but not both.The other negative targets protease inhibitors affect are well-known, PPAR-alpha which when blocked causes abnormalities in lipid metabolism, and to a lesser extent PPAR-gamma which handles sugar metabolism. Both are also disrupted to some extent by uncontrolled HIV - so there's no free lunch in either direction.

The larger problem is that it should be very clear that even another one hundred antivirals will not cure HIV. The cure lies in fixing the reason your immune system cannot control HIV like it does every other virus. Unfortunately there are releatively few researchers like Jay Levy working in this area. Most of the effort is being placed into the more profitable, yet ultimately useless, antiviral development.

Interleukin-2 goes a long way toward keeping your immune system functioning normally. I'm convinced that this in combination with a clever vaccine or similar treatment will one day constitute the cure for HIV.

>> Il-2 will raise t cell counts at all stages of HIV disease.> > You will not see articles suggesting decreases in opportunistic > infections or other markers of actual clinical benefit, because they > don't exist.> > The best Clifford Lane, the expert on IL-2 has suggested is a > "statisically insignificant tendancy to clinical benefit." Similar > statements have resulted in other investigators getting doused with > blood.> > > Barrow> pozbod@...>

July 22, 2006